The last of 21 defendants in a drug trafficking conspiracy in a crime ring that distributed methamphetamine and other drugs in Georgia pleaded guilty to their crimes.
Timothy Derrick "TP" Pettus, 54, of Duluth, Ga., awaits sentencing following his guilty plea, according to an Oct. 28 U.S. Department of Justice news release. Pettus pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana.
"The teamwork of the Wilkes County Sheriff's Office with other local, state and federal agencies identified and dismantled a violence-prone criminal organization distributing dangerous drugs throughout a largely rural northern part of the Southern District of Georgia," U.S. Attorney David H. Estes said in the release. "Our communities are safer with these gun-carrying meth merchants off the streets."
Pettus' plea is the final determination of guilt for all the 21 defendants indicted in July of last year in an investigation called Operation Wynner Storm, wrapping up prosecution of the alleged crime ring that distributed methamphetamine and other drugs in Georgia's Southern District, according to the release.
The two-year investigation, initiated in September 2019 by the Wilkes County Sheriff's Office and the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and coordinated by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, targeted gang-related drug trafficking in the Wilkes, Lincoln and McDuffie counties north of Augusta, Ga., the release reported. The investigation resulted in a 51-count federal indictment and an additional 18 defendants prosecuted on related state charges.
Leading conspirators in the gang were identified as Exjaben Demontaz "Zay" Hardman, 43, and Calvin Terrill "Swang Lo" Wynn, 34, both of Washington Ga., the release reported. Defendants allegedly distributed large amounts of methamphetamine and other drugs throughout greater Wilkes County, via "a network of street dealers."
"Citizens in the communities affected by these defendants' peddling drugs and weapons are immediately safer following their removal from the streets," FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Keri Farley said in the news release. "As this exhaustive investigation comes to an end, the FBI's job is not complete. We will continue working with our partners to investigate and dismantle drug trafficking organizations here in Georgia."
