G.F. “Pete" Peterman, III, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, announced that Eddie Dewayne Whipple, age 38, of Toomsboro, Georgia was sentenced Nov. 30, 2016, to 151 months for possession with intent to distribute cocaine by the Honorable Marc T. Treadwell, United States District Court Judge, in Macon, Georgia. Mr. Whipple entered a plea of guilty to this charge on Sept. 22, 2016.
On Feb. 19, 2015, Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Arizona contacted the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office and advised that a FedEx shipment believed to contain marijuana was scheduled for delivery the next day to a house in Wilkinson County, Georgia. This information was relayed to the Wilkinson County Sheriff’s Office.
The following day agents of the Ocmulgee Drug Task Force observed the delivery of the package to the address on the shipping label, a home across the street from Mr. Whipple. After the FedEx truck departed, Mr. Whipple and two other men came out of his residence. Mr. Whipple watched the two men retrieve the package from the neighboring house and place it in the rear of his Chevrolet Caprice. Mr. Whipple then departed in the vehicle on Highway 57.
Authorities followed Mr. Whipple at a distance and then pulled in behind him when he stopped at a residence. As officers approached, Mr. Whipple exited his vehicle and took off running. He attempted to discard the black jacket he was wearing but was quickly apprehended and wrestled to the ground. A baggie of cocaine was found in his jacket. Mr. Whipple consented to a search of his vehicle and a package containing almost 50 pounds of marijuana was recovered.
A search warrant for Mr. Whipple’s residence was obtained and cans with false bottoms were found containing marijuana and cocaine. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed the substance was marijuana in Mr. Whipple’s car and that it weighed 20.14 kilograms. The GBI Crime Lab also determined that the white substance recovered from his home and in his jacket was cocaine weighting 31.86 grams.
This case was investigated by the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office, Wilkinson County Sheriff’s Office, the Ocmulgee Drug Task Force, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorney Sonja Profit prosecuted the case on behalf of the Government.
Questions concerning this case should be directed to Pamela Lightsey, Public Information Officer, United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 621-2603.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
