Full Notification

Twelve members of a methamphetamine trafficking ring have been charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Seven of those charged were arrested on Tuesday, Dec. 10, during an early morning round-up conducted by federal, state and local law enforcement, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Three of the named defendants remain fugitives.
U.S. Attorney Tompkins was joined in making the announcement by Harry S.
Sommers, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA), which oversees the Charlotte District Office, and Wayne L. Dixie, Special
Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
The arrests are the result of a multi-agency investigation to target and reduce the
trafficking of methamphetamine in Western North Carolina and was conducted by DEA, ATF,
the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, the
Marion Police Department, the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office, the Yancey County Sheriff’s
Office and the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, as well as the South Carolina Law Enforcement
Division, the Cowpens Police Department and the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office in South
Carolina.
“I’m proud of the work our officers did, and I’m proud of the partnership we’ve built with local, state and federal agencies,” said McDowell County Sheriff Dudley Greene. “I appreciate the opportunity to have someone on this DEA task force because it allows us to cross borders and determine who is involved in bringing drugs into our county.”
According to allegations contained in the criminal indictment unsealed on Wednesday,
Dec. 11 in U.S. District Court, from about June 2012 to July 2012, the defendants did
knowingly conspire to possess with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of actual
methamphetamine or more than 500 grams of a mixture or substance containing a detectable
amount of methamphetamine. The indictment alleges that the defendants carried out their drug
conspiracy primarily in Buncombe, Cleveland and McDowell counties in Western North
Carolina.
The following individuals were named and charged in the methamphetamine conspiracy indictment.
-- George Wade Cook (a/k/a “Rooster”), 52 , of Caser, N.C. (in custody)
-- Gregory Ray DeHart, 44, of Marion, N.C. (in custody)
-- Ramona Jamison Lail, 48, of Marion (in custody)
-- Jimmy Dwayne Lawing (a/k/a “Dick”), 45, of Marion (in custody)
-- Carlos Alvarado Mendoza (a/k/a “Tequila”), 39, of Candler, N.C. (in custody)
-- John Louis Pivonka, 42, of Marion (in custody)
-- Tommy Ray Sisk, 56, of Old Fort, N.C. (in custody)
-- John Matthew Frady, (a/k/a “Ghost”), 39, of Cowpens, S.C. (in state custody)
-- Jeffrey Kirkland, 41, of Gainesville, Ga. (in federal custody in Georgia)
-- Miguel Santos-Maldonado (a/k/a “Mateo Segura”), 42, of Gainesville, Ga. (fugitive)
-- Rigoberto Alvarado Mendoza (a/k/a “Big Boy”), 42, of Arden, N.C. (fugitive)
-- Taide Alvarado Vergara, 27, of Candler (fugitive)
All 12 defendants in the methamphetamine trafficking ring have been charged with engaging in a narcotics conspiracy and they face a statutory minimum prison term of 10 years and a maximum term of life imprisonment, and a $10 million fine.
“This is going to make a significant impact not only on our drug distribution problem, but on other crimes as well because they are often related to the drug trade,” Greene stated.
The seven defendants arrested in North Carolina had their arraignment and detention hearings on Monday, Dec. 16, in U.S. District Court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis L. Howell. All seven were detained pending trial.
The charges contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The investigation is being handled by DEA, ATF, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, the Marion Police Department, the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office, the Yancey County Sheriff’s Office and the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, as well as the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the Cowpens Police Department and the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina.
The prosecution is being handled for the government by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Kent of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville.