CHARLOTE, N.C. - Lonnie Brown, Jr. 48, of Charlotte, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. to 11 years in prison and five years of supervised release on drug trafficking conspiracy charges, announced R. Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
C.J. Hyman, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division, and Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department join U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.
According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, from about August 2014, Lonnie Brown, Constance Graves, Carol Fonseca and Tormeka Graves operated a drug conspiracy responsible for trafficking large amounts of cocaine and crack cocaine in Mecklenburg County. According to filed court documents, Brown was the leader of the drug network and had established himself as a supplier of cocaine to several neighborhoods in the Charlotte area. Court records also show that, while he was operating the drug conspiracy, Brown was on federal probation for two prior federal drug convictions.
Co-defendant Carol Fonseca was Brown’s girlfriend and partner in the cocaine distribution network, and obtained the cocaine from a Hispanic supplier. Constance Graves and Tormeka Graves purchased drugs from Brown and Fonseca, in some instances as much as a kilogram at a time. According to filed court documents, Brown previously admitted that he was responsible for trafficking between five and 15 kilograms of cocaine.
Tomeka Graves, Carol Fonseca, and Constance Graves have been sentenced to 132, 24 and 18 months in prison, respectively. Brown is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole
The investigation was handled by ATF and CMPD. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana Washington is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
