The last defendant in a high-volume outdoor drug trafficking operation in southwest Georgia was sentenced earlier this month following his guilty pleas in November, according to news releases.
Eddie Houston, 43 of McDonough, Georgia was sentenced as a career offender to 200 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, according to DOJ's Thursday, Feb. 17 news release.
"Career criminal offenders will face the possibility of federal prosecution and lengthy prison sentences for choosing to repeatedly break the law and diminish the well-being and safety of our communities," U.S. Attorney for Georgia's Middle District Peter D. Leary said in the news release. "The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will hold repeat offenders accountable for their crimes."
In a previous news release, DOJ reported that Houston plead guilty on Nov. 15 to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine in U.S. District Court for Georgia's Middle District. Houston previously pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
At the time of his pleas, Houston faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years to up to the maximum of life in prison, followed by at least five years of supervised release, according to DOJ's November news release. Houston also could have received a maximum $10,000,000 fine.
Parole does not exist in the federal system.
Houston's name did not turn up in a Federal Bureau of Prisons online inmate search.
The case demonstrates the commitment by the FBI and its partner "to end an epidemic that is killing our citizens and making our communities more dangerous," Acting Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta Phillip Wislar said in the news release.
"The fact that Houston received such a lengthy sentence is an example of how serious this crime is and serves as a warning to anyone who is involved in drug trafficking that they will be brought to justice for their crimes," Wislar said.
Houston's seven co-defendants in the case have already been sentenced.
