Jackson, Miss. - Dijon Jamese Seales a/k/a “DJ," 28, of Philadelphia, pled guilty today before U.S. Chief District Judge Daniel P. Jordan, III., to possession with intent to distribute 5 grams or more of methamphetamine and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Jere T. Miles, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans.
On Jan. 22, 2018, members of the U.S. Marshal’s Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force went to arrest Seales pursuant to an arrest warrant issued out of the Northern District of Texas for violating pretrial release conditions in an unrelated case. While executing the warrant, task force members found 16.9 grams of methamphetamine on Seales’ person which the defendant intended to distribute. Additionally, in furtherance of his drug trafficking offense, Seales was found to be in possession of a Glock 43 pistol and a Ruger AR-556 assault-type rifle with an assortment of gun accessories, including a bump stock.
“Methamphetamine has devastated countless communities due to the dramatic health and public safety consequences that typically accompany its introduction into an area," said Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations New Orleans Jere T. Miles. “Today’s guilty plea stems from an extensive HSI effort with its federal, state and local partners to dismantle a drug trafficking organization that decimated parts of Mississippi and Alabama with methamphetamine smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico. This operation is a testament to the seamless partnership between HSI, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and we are thankful for their assistance as well as the U.S. Attorneys’ to improve the lives of law-abiding residents throughout Mississippi and Alabama."
Seales was charged in a three count indictment that was filed on March 7, 2018. He will be sentenced by Judge Jordan on May 10, 2019, at 9:00am and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and up to a $5,000,000 fine.
The OCDETF program is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations, and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.
This OCDETF case is a result of a joint investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. Assisting agencies include the United States Marshal’s Service, the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force, Philadelphia Police Department, Neshoba County Sheriff’s Department, Neshoba County District Attorney’s Office, Scott County Sheriff’s Office, Flowood Police Department, Rankin County Sheriff’s Department, Hinds County Sheriff’s Department, Carthage Police Department, Union Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Louisville Police Department, Mississippi Highway Patrol, and United States Attorney=s Office Southern District of Mississippi. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erin Chalk and Drew Eichner are prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
