A nine-count indictment was filed charging four people for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute 16 pounds of methamphetamine.
Indicted are: Rafael Smith, 47, of Covington, Virginia; Robert Coore, 46, a Jamaican national; Shuree Jefferson, 41, of Garfield Heights, and Jeffrey Westmoreland, 30, of Rock Creek.
All four are charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, as well as additional charges of possession or distribution of methamphetamine. Coore is also charged with illegal reentry, as he was in the United States on March 20, 2019, after having been deported to Jamaica on Jan. 25, 2018.
According to court documents:
Coore and Smith met numerous times in March and April 2019 with an undercover agent at locations in Beachwood, Independence, Brooklyn, Cleveland and elsewhere to sell large amounts of methamphetamine.
Coore stated he traveled to California to arrange for bulk shipments of drugs to the Cleveland area. Coore and Smith requested the undercover agent’s help in locating a warehouse with a loading dock and town motor capable of offloading a tractor trailer upon arrival in Northeast Ohio.
Coore was arrested on April 23 with four pounds of methamphetamine. A search of a residence in Aurora resulted in the arrest of Smith, and seizure of approximately three pounds of methamphetamine.
Prosecutors are seeking to forfeit $nearly $48,000 in cash seized as part of the investigation.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Cleveland Division of Police. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret Sweeney.
If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
