The U.S. Attorney’s Office says that Wilfort Foster III, a 41-year-old man from California, has been given a 28-year prison term for his part in running a drug trafficking ring that moved large amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl from California to Georgia. Atlanta News First reported that Foster did illegal business out of a barbershop in California.
Foster will also have to go through five years of supervised release after he gets out of jail. Even though he was on probation for a drug case in California, he didn’t stop his illegal activities. During the investigation, agents were able to seize more than a dozen guns, including an AR-15, and a huge amount of drugs. Prosecutors say Foster broke a co-defendant’s jaw over a drug bill while working out of his barbershop.
Steven Ham, 43, from Cartersville, Georgia, has also been given a sentence of 15 years in prison and 10 years of controlled release for his part in the crime. He admitted that he had methamphetamine in his possession with the plan to sell it. “This sentence ends years of work to break up a dangerous drug trafficking network that was bringing deadly drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine into our communities,” said Paul Brown, FBI Atlanta special agent in charge. After more research, it was found that Foster’s Georgian partners had sent him over $600,000 in cash through fake companies.
The Department of Justice says that other people have also pleaded guilty in connection with Foster’s scheme. One of them is Clifford Alexander, 39, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Another is Frank Miller, 47, who pleaded guilty to the same charge as Alexander and also to conspiracy to commit money laundering and drug trafficking while in possession of a firearm. Both Kenneth Antoine Scott, 41, and Lori Silvers, 46, admitted to similar charges. Nia Thomas, 31, also did the same. They are all waiting to be sentenced. Foster was found guilty of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl as well as conspiracy to launder money. “Our office worked with many federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to break up a large, multi-state drug trafficking and money laundering network,” U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a statement. He also said that Foster’s harsh sentence should be a strong deterrent for other people who are thinking about committing similar crimes.
