ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Three additional men have been arrested in connection with a drug and money laundering conspiracy investigation involving the smuggling of cocaine to Alaska through Las Vegas McCarron International Airport.
The new defendants are:
* Clarence Anthony Hatton, A/K/A “C-MONEY", age 46, of Henderson, NV;
* Michael Vontrell Langdon, A/K/A "MONEY MIKE", age 35, of Renton, Washington; and,
* Antonio Demetrius Beckwith, A/K/A "TWIN", age 38, of Anchorage, AK.
The men joined Daren D. Cole, Dewane E. Blue, and Bryan M. Bledsoe, who have been previously indicted. On Feb. 17, 2015, a grand jury in Anchorage charged Hatton, Langdon, and Beckwith with one count of drug conspiracy and one count money laundering conspiracy. Also included in the indictment were criminal forfeiture allegations.
According to the indictment, between approximately March 2012 and June 6, 2014, each of the six men participated in a scheme to acquire and distribute cocaine. Hatton would provide his conspirators with drugs in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bledsoe had employee credentials that allowed him to bypass security screening at the airport in Las Vegas and bring the drugs into the airport undetected. Bledsoe would then provide the drugs to others in the conspiracy that had cleared security checkpoints and the drugs would be brought to Alaska, and other states, in carry-on luggage. The drugs were distributed in Alaska and Cole, Beckwith, and others would use the U.S. Mail, or other parcel delivery services, to send money from Alaska to Hatton, Langdon, and other conspirators, in Washington State and Nevada.
The indictment alleges a total of 27 acts in furtherance of the drug conspiracy, including a sequence of events that occurred on June 1, 2014 when Bledsoe brought a bag containing 10 kilograms of cocaine that originated with Hatton into the airport. After bypassing security, Bledsoe met Blue in a bathroom and provided Blue with the cocaine. Blue then met Cole in another bathroom and provided Cole with the cocaine.
The forfeiture allegations in the indictment seek to forfeit property allegedly derived from or used in the drug or money laundering conspiracies, including over $620,000; one Cadillac Escalade; one BMW; and one Mercedes.
If convicted, the defendants face a potential life sentence on the drug trafficking conspiracy, with a mandatory minimum of ten years in prison. The money laundering conspiracy charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, as well as fines related to the amount of money laundered. Under the federal sentencing statutes the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history of the defendant.
An indictment is only a charging document and is not evidence of guilt. Defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, by both its Anchorage and Las Vegas District Offices, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigative Division, the United States Postal Inspection Service, both in Anchorage and Las Vegas, the FBI Anchorage Safe Streets Task Force, the Anchorage Police Department, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the Henderson Police Department, and the North Las Vegas Police Department conducted the investigation leading to the criminal charges in this case. The Clark County Department of Aviation has been assisting authorities with their investigation.
