DEA In The News
DEA: Mexico Marks another Success against Drug Cartels
Member of Opa-Locka Drug Gang Sentenced on Narcotics and Gun Charges
DEC 18, 2009 Three Al Qaeda Associates Arrested on Drug and Terrorism Charges
DEC 17, 2009 Statement from DEA Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart on the Death of Mexican Drug Cartel Leader Arturo Beltran-Leyva
DEC 17, 2009 Leaders of Colombian Narco-Terrorist Organization Plead Guilty in U.S. District Court to Conspiring to Import Tons of Cocaine into the United States
Large Scale Cocaine Trafficker Sentenced to Life in Prison for Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering
30-year Fugitive Had All 10 Fingers Surgically Altered to Evade Capture
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| 30-Year Fugitive Had Ten Fingers Surgically Altered to Evade Capture |
DEC 11 – PHOENIX - William Wallace Keegan, aka Richard Alan King, 62, of Palm Harbor, Florida (and previously of Calif. and New York), was sentenced yesterday to five concurrent life sentences for drug trafficking and 240 months for money laundering related to his drug trafficking activities. Keegan was found guilty in June 2009, after a 10-day federal jury trial, of one count of Conspiracy to Possess With Intent to Distribute Five Kilograms or More of Cocaine, four counts of Possession With Intent To Distribute Five Kilograms or More of Cocaine and one Count of Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering.
During the trial, the evidence showed that Keegan had all 10 fingers surgically altered in the 1990’s to obliterate his fingerprints above the first joint. A Drug Enforcement Administration forensic fingerprint analyst was able to match the lower joint fingerprints from the arrest under the name of Richard King in January 2008 with a 1977 arrest, confirming his identity as William Wallace Keegan.
“This sentencing marks an end to a nationwide drug trafficking enterprise that spanned over three decades,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Elizabeth W. Kempshall. “William Wallace Keegan was the leader of an extensive pipeline of illicit drugs who did everything he could to hide his identity and evade capture. Now, he will be behind bars and known only by his inmate number.”
U.S. Attorney Dennis K. Burke stated, “With this sentence and the conclusion of the investigation, a drug pipeline from Mexico into Arizona and across the United States has been shut down. After spending years avoiding law enforcement, a career criminal has been brought to justice through the teamwork of dedicated law enforcement officials.”
The evidence presented at trial showed that between November 2005 and January 2008, Keegan and co-conspirators acquired cocaine in Arizona and transported it, primarily via the U.S. Postal Service, to New York. Keegan had previously been trafficking marijuana from Arizona and California to New York and elsewhere and shifted to cocaine in 2005. During the early part of the conspiracy, Keegan, who used the false identity of Richard King, traveled to Arizona and personally took possession of the cocaine from Arizona sources of supply. Testimony showed that the drugs were brought into the U.S. from Mexico. As the conspiracy progressed, Keegan had co-conspirators mail the cocaine to him at various hotels in Long Island, New York.
“The tough sentence William Keegan received was reflective of his extensive drug trafficking activities and the lengths he went to in order to evade law enforcement,” said Pete Zegarac, Inspector in Charge of the Phoenix Division Postal Inspection Service. “Our nation is a safer place with Keegan off the streets indefinitely.”
Keegan was caught by law enforcement through an undercover DEA operation in Hauppauge, New York, where he accepted suitcases containing 38 kilograms of sham cocaine. The conspiracy was responsible for well over 150 kilograms of cocaine with a value of more than $2 million. The money was used in part to promote the illegal drug business, resulting in the money laundering conviction.
In sentencing Keegan to life in prison, U.S. District Judge Susan R. Bolton relied on the seriousness of the offenses, identifying drug trafficking offenses in the quantities engaged in by the defendant as some of the most serious federal crimes. She also noted that Keegan had engaged in drug trafficking for more than 30 years and that this conspiracy had stretched across the U.S. and involved large amounts of drugs and drug traffickers. She noted that the sentence was needed to keep any community safe into which Keegan would otherwise be released and also to deter others from committing similar offenses.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration in Phoenix and New York, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Chandler Arizona Police Department. The prosecution was handled by James B. Morse Jr. and Brian G. Larson, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Phoenix.
Three DEA Special Agents in Afghanistan Die in Line of Duty
During the early morning hours of October 26, Special Agents Michael E. Weston, Forrest N. Leamon, and Chad L. Michael, along with other DEA Special Agents, U.S. Special Forces, and our Afghan counterparts, were executing Afghan search warrants at a bazaar in Afghanistan’s rugged Badghis Province. This bazaar was a safe haven for insurgents, and contained significant quantities of narcotics, improvised explosive devices, and weapons used against Coalition Forces.
At approximately 3:30 a.m. following completion of the counter narcotics/counter insurgency operation, including an hour-long firefight with insurgents, our forces were departing the target area on a U.S. military CH-47 helicopter when it crashed, killing these three DEA Special Agents and seven Special Forces personnel. In addition, 26 personnel were injured, including DEA FAST Team Leader Pat McDarby. Risking further injury, he and other able military personnel immediately rescued the remaining injured personnel from the burning wreckage.
Click Here to Read DEA Press Release 1
Click Here to Read DEA Press Release 2
Defendants Sentenced in “Operation Candybox”
Members of an international Ecstasy trafficking and money laundering cartel were sentenced this week for smuggling hundreds of thousands of Ecstasy tablets (usually laced with methamphetamine) into the United States from Canada, distributing the drug in Atlanta and other major U.S. cities, and laundering the drug proceeds back to Canada through Vietnam.
The investigation had been conducted back in December 2004, when a Canadian citizen relocated from his home in suburban Toronto to Atlanta to coordinate an Ecstasy distribution operation. His wife, son, and a “lieutenant” coordinated the Canadian side of the operation. The organization used drug transporters to drive the hundreds of thousands of pills across the border, which were usually concealed in the gas tanks of vehicles. Once the drugs arrived in Atlanta, the pills were distributed in the Atlanta area and other areas in the eastern United States. Proceeds of the drug sales were then remitted back to Canada through Vietnam.
Click Here to Read the DEA Press Release
Safe Street Task Force Arrests 25 Members of the “Original Gangsta Killers” Gang
On October 29, 25 members of the Original Gangsta Killers (OGK) in Albany, New York were charged in a federal indictment. Of the 25, 23 were charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering, including multiple acts of drug trafficking, robbery, and attempted murder. All 25 were also charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine, cocaine, and marijuana.
The indictment alleges that members of the OGK gang maintained control over a territory where they and their associates distributed their drugs; protected their territory with violence, including physical assaults and shootings; possessed and engaged in acts of violence with firearms, including robberies and shootings of rival gang members and associates; and traveled out of state to obtain firearms and transported them back to Albany.
Click Here to Read the DEA Press Release
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DID YOU KNOW?
The three tragic deaths that the DEA experienced on October 26 in Afghanistan were the largest loss of life for DEA on a single day since 1995, and the fourth largest in DEA history. On April 19, 1995, five people working for DEA died in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City; in 1994 five DEA Special Agents died in a plane crash while participating in Operation Snowcap in Peru; while on a DEA task force, three people died in a helicopter crash in Mt. Ida, Arkansas in 1986; and DEA experienced its largest loss of life in a fire at DEA’s offices in Miami on August 5, 1974, when seven DEA employees died. For more information on these events, and information about all those who have died in the line of duty, please click here.
