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Leader of east Alabama drug ring sentenced to 35 years in prison, DOJ says

A total of 19 people, most from Auburn and Opelika, have now been sentenced in connection to a drug trafficking bust that was revealed after the shooting of an 11-year-old in the Orchard Way trailer park in Auburn in 2016, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

The final three alleged members of the drug trafficking organization, 37-year-old Marquis Lanez Miller, 35-year-old Lester Stephen Young, and 36-year-old Worldly Dieago Holstick, were sentenced last week, United States Attorney Louis Franklin, Sr., and Acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge Andy Langan with the Drug Enforcement Administration wrote.

They were sentenced to imprisonment for 81 months, 33 months and 420 months, respectively. All three pleaded guilty to "various drug, gun and money laundering charges," the DOJ wrote. 

Here is the total list of people sentenced in the bust.

  1.  Alfred Lorenzo Cole – 37 years old, Santa Rosa, California; 168 months’ imprisonment;
  2.  Sakeya Monique Donaldson, 39 years old, Atlanta, Georgia; 26 months’ imprisonment;
  3. Leanne Grimmett, 32 years old, Auburn, Alabama; 12 months and a day imprisonment;
  4.  James Lee Hamilton, 41 years old, Santa Rosa, California; 48 months’ imprisonment;
  5.  Jermichael Lamar Hart, 32 years old, Auburn, Alabama; 120 months’ imprisonment;
  6. Worldly Dieago Holstick – 36 years old, Auburn, Alabama; 420 months’ imprisonment;
  7. Mackenzie Leigh Keith, 24 years old, Auburn, Alabama; 3 years’ probation;
  8.  Tyesha Lanise Lockhart – 21 years old, Auburn, Alabama; 12 months and a day imprisonment;
  9. John Willie Maddox, Jr. - 28 years old, Auburn, Alabama; 170 months’ imprisonment;
  10. Phillip Maddox; 41 years old, Auburn, Alabama; 60 months’ imprisonment;
  11.  James Earl McIntyre, 29 years old, Montgomery, Alabama; 24 months’ imprisonment;
  12. Marquis Lanez Miller – 37 years old, Auburn, Alabama; 81 months’ imprisonment;
  13.  Tyquavious Roequan Mitchell, 20 years old, Opelika, Alabama; 36 months’ imprisonment;
  14. Jamarcus Deandre Pettus, 34 years old, Opelika, Alabama; 120 months’ imprisonment;
  15.  Eric Kendall Smith, 26 years old, Opelika, Alabama; 120 months’ imprisonment;
  16.  Timothy Lamar Spinks, 43 years old, Auburn, Alabama; 180 months’ imprisonment;
  17.  Erin Kristen Turner – 24 years old, Auburn, Alabama; 6 months’ imprisonment;
  18.  Lateasha Lashun Williams, 31 years old, Auburn, Alabama; 20 months’ imprisonment; and
  19.  Lester Stephen Young, 35 years old, Auburn, Alabama; 33 months’ imprisonment. 

"These sentencings are the result of the hard work and dedication of  multiple agencies and will strike a severe blow to an organization that  was bringing dangerous drugs and violence into our communities," Franklin said. "Too often, multiple generations participate in  the drug trafficking trade and society is left to deal with this vicious  cycle.  My office will continue to work with all of our law enforcement  partners to identify and dismantle these drug trafficking  organizations.” 

The Justice Department wrote that Worldy Holstick was the leader of the organization. His father, Lester Holstick, was sentenced along with five of his siblings in the mid-1990s for drug trafficking offenses. He was sentenced to two decades behind bars, according to the department. 

Officials wrote that their investigation began after an 11-year-old girl was shot while sitting in a car outside one of Worldly Holstick's residences at Orchard Way on September 16, 2016. Police seized video recordings which allegedly showed footage of the shooting and of organization members with drugs and guns. 

Holstick argued in court that the seizure was unwarranted and that evidence found in the search should be suppressed, according to court documents. The court denied his request. 

“This was a huge impact investigation for the Auburn and Lee County  communities,” stated Acting ASAC Langan.  “It shines a spotlight on the  great things that are accomplished when Federal, State, and Local Law  Enforcement partners work together with their prosecuting counterparts  toward a common goal. These sentences should send the message to  everyone involved in the illicit drug trade in the State of Alabama that  we will bring you to justice and you will be held accountable for your  crimes.”

The case was investigated by 19 different agencies and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kevin Davidson, Josh Wendell and Curtis Ivy, according to the Department of Justice. 


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