Two women have been sentenced to prison for their involvement in a drug trafficking conspiracy centered in Hampton Roads, Virginia. The case stemmed from an investigation that began in June 2021 into activities at Lux Auto in Newport News, where federal authorities found the business was being used as a hub for storing illegal drugs in vehicles parked on the lot.
Amanda Bell, 24, acted as both a courier and distributor within the organization. She sold marijuana and fentanyl pills, and law enforcement documented multiple controlled transactions involving more than 40 grams of fentanyl. Bell also transported money between Virginia and California linked to drug trafficking operations. On March 3, 2022, she was intercepted while traveling to California with over $35,000 intended for marijuana trafficking.
Bell pleaded guilty on April 26 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and received a sentence of five years and ten months in prison on November 25.
Farrah Fair, also known as 10K Fay, 26, served as a courier by transporting marijuana in checked luggage on commercial flights between California suppliers and co-conspirators in Virginia. Fair pleaded guilty on January 14 to use of a communication facility in furtherance of drug trafficking and was sentenced on November 25 to two years and six months in prison.
The investigation led to charges against thirty-seven individuals under a superseding indictment issued on September 11, 2023.
U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan for the Eastern District of Virginia and Dominique Evans, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, announced the sentences following proceedings before U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric M. Hurt, Alyson C. Yates, and Luke Bresnahan prosecuted the case.
The case is part of Operation Take Back America—a national initiative led by the Department of Justice that aims to address violent crime through coordinated efforts involving resources from Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs).
Related information can be found on the websites of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia or the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia; additional court documents are available via PACER by searching Case No. 4:23-cr-54.
