108 INDICTMENTS TOTALING 344 CRIMINAL CHARGES
MEMPHIS, TN – District Attorney Bill Gibbons and Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin announced Thursday that Memphis police officers served or attempted to serve warrants to 51 alleged drug dealers indicted this week by the state Grand Jury for Shelby County following an undercover operation by the Memphis Police Department’s Organized Crime Unit. The round-up started at 5:00 Thursday morning.
Earlier this week, the Grand Jury returned 108 indictments against 51 defendants. The indictments were the result of a six week investigation that started on March 9 and continued through April 14, 2006. These defendants were targeted as part of the MPD’s ongoing Operation Blue CRUSH. A warrant was also issued for a 17-year-old juvenile defendant, who was not indicted by the Grand Jury, but will face charges in Juvenile Court.
The investigation concentrated on individuals making drug sales in the Binghampton and Highland Heights areas and included five know gang members who are connected to the Gangster Disciples. The youngest defendant is 17 and the oldest defendant is 45 years old.
“The Memphis Police Department is continuing to address the issues of guns, gangs and drugs through Blue CRUSH. What you see today is the result of those efforts addressing the drug sales in our community,” said Director Godwin. “Guns, gangs, and drugs will not be tolerated,” he emphasized.
“Working with the Memphis Police Department, we are aggressively tackling drug trafficking in our neighborhoods. Our citizens deserve to live in their neighborhoods and walk their streets free of drug trafficking and the violence that far too often comes with it,” said District Attorney Gibbons.
The indictments include charges of sale of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. In total, the defendants have been indicted on 344 criminal counts. Most of the charges involved the sale or possession of crack cocaine and marijuana.
The counts in the indictment included 126 class B felonies, 174 class C felonies, 18 class D felonies, 24 class E felonies and two class A misdemeanors.
The standard sentence for a class B felony is 8-12 years, with a maximum sentence of 30 years; the standard sentence for a class C felony is 3-6 years, with a maximum sentence of 15 years; the standard sentence for a class D felony is 2-4 year, with a maximum sentence of 12 years; the standard sentence for a class E felony is 1-2 years, with 6 years being the maximum; and the maximum sentence for a class A misdemeanor is 11 months, 29 days.