United States Attorney Richard W. Moore of the Southern District of Alabama joined
Mobile Police Chief Lawrence L. Battiste, Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran, DEA Special
Agent in Charge Brad L. Byerley, HSI Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger, ATF Acting
Special Agent in Charge Toby Taylor, and FBI Special Agent in Charge James Jewell in
announcing the unsealing today of a forty-eight count indictment charging forty-two members
and associates of a Mobile County, Alabama-based multi-state drug smuggling and distribution
organization known as the “Crossley Hills Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO)." The grand
jury charged the members and associates with narcotics conspiracy and firearms offenses. The
Grand Jury also charged that overdose deaths of four individuals were attributable to the drugs
trafficked by the Crossley Hills DTO. The indictment was the result of two years of an
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation by federal, state, and local law
enforcement into the narcotics activities of the Crossley Hills group.
To date, nineteen defendants have been taken into custody today; seven other defendants
were already in custody. Defendants arrested this morning in the Southern District of Alabama
will be presented and arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katherine P. Nelson today. Three
defendants were to be arrested in the Western District of Louisiana today.
U.S. Attorney Richard W. Moore said: “The COVID pandemic has overshadowed
another public health crisis that still exists in our community: overdose death due to opioid
abuse. The indictment of those associated with the Crossley Hills drug trafficking organization
in West Mobile, Alabama represents the combined work of our local law enforcement agencies
plus our federal agencies to dismantle this criminal enterprise. This group peddled drugs that in
at least four cases resulted in the deaths of sons, daughters and other loved ones from our
community. The Crossley Hills organization sold a drug that was potent enough to kill its users
earning it the name “Grey Death." There is no corner of our country or our community that has
been spared this national crisis, and we cannot arrest or prosecute our way out of it. This is
going to take a different kind of intervention by all of us in the community to prevent more
deaths from opioid abuse."
Mobile Police Chief Lawrence L. Battiste said, “I would like to emphasize the impact of
the collaboration of all of the agencies involved. There are 42 individuals in our community that
will no longer be allowed to prey on the most vulnerable among us. Our community is going to
be made better from the results of this operation."
DEA Special Agent in Charge Brad L. Byerley said, “The wreckage caused by drugs and
violence affects everyone. No matter the amounts of drugs they sell, drug dealers breed crime in
our neighborhoods and are a danger to our children. Drug overdoses have increased dramatically
and are destroying countless lives. The arrests in this investigation demonstrate to the citizens of
Mobile and the surrounding area that law enforcement can come together and accomplish great
things. DEA and our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners will continue to
investigate those who distribute poison with no regard for human life. These arrests should also
serve as a warning to drug dealers in communities throughout this region and beyond your illegal
and destructive actions will not be tolerated."
Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran said, “This joint investigation by all levels of law
enforcement shows how prevalent the opioid problem is within our community, and may for the
first time directly tie drug dealers to the deaths and overdoses of those in the chains of
addiction."
“The days of these criminals selling poison and destroying lives are over," said Special
Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
operations in Georgia and Alabama. “Powerful opioids like fentanyl have the potential to kill just
by contact and are far too dangerous to be sold on the street. HSI and its law enforcement
partners will continue to work tirelessly to bring an end to criminal organizations, like this, that
are flooding the community with dangerous drugs."
ATF’s priority in the case focuses on the recovery of crime guns which include those that
have been stolen. The use of NIBIN technology will determine if these firearms have been used
in previous crimes. ATF Acting Special Agent in Charge Toby Taylor remarked, “ATF’s Crime
Gun Intelligence partnerships as part of Project Guardian focuses on the devastating impact of
firearms and narcotics trafficking violence and works with the entire community to provide a
safe environment."
FBI Special Agent in Charge James Jewell stated, “This case is a testament to the
partnerships that exist among the state, local, and federal law enforcement entities in our area.
These arrests should sound the alarm for those who choose to sell this poison on our streets and
in our communities. FBI Mobile is proud to stand with our law enforcement partners in this
important mission."
According to the indictment, the Crossley Hills DTO operated in Mobile County,
Alabama, and elsewhere, distributing various controlled substances, including heroin, fentanyl,
methamphetamine, Xanax, Oxycodone, Opana, and Roxicodone to customers in Southern
Alabama and elsewhere. Relying on regional and local sources of supply to acquire controlled
substances for its distribution, the indictment alleges that the Crossley Hills DTO, beginning in
2016, has distributed a substantial amount of the heroin in Mobile County, Alabama. These
heroin sales have led to numerous overdoses resulting in hospitalizations and deaths, according
to the indictment.
Charged in the indictment are Martin Carlton Melton, aka MC; Jessie Lee Andrews; Lisa
Overby Brokaw; Reginald Irvin Burgess; Melody Noel Cleburn, aka Angel Noel; Jimmy Earl
Conner; Mortimer Adrian Cottrell, aka Cuz; Khadarrin J. Crayton, aka KD; Chad Joshua
Delevieleuse, aka Chad the Pilot; Donna J. Delevieleuse; Kiairus Jamer Diamond, aka Nephew;
Julisa Natalia Dillard; Sydney Elizabeth Dunn; Marinda Olivia Loetta Heflin; Cornell Lemont
Houston, aka CJ; Avamae Gaynell Jackson, aka Ava; Tomocus Lawrence Jackson, aka J-Bo;
Richard Gaines Krause; Brittany Victoria Lovejoy; Harrison Lavelle Luker; Austin Tyler
Mamuscia; Tyler Weston Martin; Fitzalbert Norman Mcgloshen, aka Fitz; Gabrielle Antoinette
Mims; Jonas Moore, aka Rip; Autumn Jean Moorehead; Annetta Gaynell Owens, aka Gaynell;
Adam Joseph Owens, aka AJ; aka Big Homie; William Grant Owens, aka Whip, aka Surge;
Edwin Jerome Owens, aka EJ; Terry Lamont Owens, aka Solo; Amber Lee Parker, aka Amber
Russell; Ed Ray Patterson, aka Unc, aka Pop; Wendy Gale Roberts; Mark Robert Rupprecht, aka
Ghost; Alex Scott, aka Black; Lemont Stevens, aka Mont; Denton Taylor Stanley; and Jessica
Defloren Tubb aka Allie.
Six defendants were charged with distributing fentanyl that resulted in overdose deaths of
four people. Martin Carlton Melton, aka MC; Terry Lamont Owens, aka Solo; Cornell Lemont
Houston, aka CJ; Marinda Olivia Loetta Heflin; William Grant Owens, aka Whip, aka Surge;
and Jessica Defloren Tubb, aka Allie would be subject to a minimum mandatory sentence of
twenty years and a maximum of life if convicted. Sentences for other defendants would vary
depending on the type and amount of drugs attributable to them in the conspiracy.
In addition to the drug trafficking charges, five defendants were charged with firearms
violations. Adam Joseph Owens, aka AJ, was charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance
of a drug trafficking crime. Ed Ray Patterson, aka Unc, aka Pop; Tomocus Lawrence Jackson,
aka J-Bo, aka CJ; and Alex Scott, aka Black, were charged with possession of firearms after a
felony conviction.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Mobile Police
Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Mobile County
Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
under the auspices of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama
Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency,
the Baldwin County Drug Task Force, and the Saraland Police Department provided key
investigative support to the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Luis F. Peral, Lead
OCDETF Attorney, and Assistant United States Attorney George F. May are handling
prosecution of the case for the United States.
The charges contained in an indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are
presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
