Jonathan D. Ross U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas
Three men have been convicted by a federal jury for their roles in methamphetamine and cocaine conspiracies that extended from California to Texas and Arkansas. The trial, which lasted six days, concluded with guilty verdicts for Bruce McArthur Smith of Hesperia, California; Kevin Langel of Pine Bluff; and Larry Rogers of Benton. Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced the verdicts.
The men were first indicted in November 2022. A superseding indictment was issued on January 6, 2026. Smith was charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine. Langel faced charges related to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, while Rogers was charged with conspiracy involving more than 500 grams but less than five kilograms of cocaine.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Roderick Toney of Little Rock purchased the drugs from the three men and redistributed them. Toney pleaded guilty on February 7, 2025, to conspiracy to possess with intent to deliver methamphetamine and being a felon in possession of a firearm; he is awaiting sentencing.
During the trial, prosecutors played phone calls between Smith and Toney that described several methamphetamine transactions. The investigation revealed that Smith traveled multiple times from California to Arkansas between 2020 and 2022, supplying Toney directly at an apartment complex in Little Rock.
In June and July 2022, while Smith sold methamphetamine to Toney, Toney also bought kilograms of cocaine from Rogers. On July 14, 2022, evidence showed Rogers received money from one of Toney’s relatives at a car wash before meeting Langel at a business off Geyer Springs Road in Little Rock for a kilogram of cocaine. Rogers then returned to the car wash where he gave the cocaine to Toney. Multiple similar transactions between Rogers and Toney were detailed during the proceedings.
Prosecutors also presented evidence that Langel supplied Rogers with cocaine sourced out of Houston and Dallas during late 2022 and early 2023.
Following their convictions, all three men were detained pending sentencing. Smith and Langel face mandatory minimum sentences of ten years up to life imprisonment along with at least five years’ supervised release after serving their sentences. Rogers faces a minimum sentence of five years up to forty years in prison as well as four years’ supervised release following incarceration. Federal law does not allow parole.
These three defendants are the last among eighteen individuals prosecuted in this case originating in North Little Rock before expanding into California; all have now been convicted though some are still awaiting sentencing hearings.
According to authorities: "This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion." The statement continued: "The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad... In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children."
The case was investigated by agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Orleans Field Division as well as officers from North Little Rock Police Department—with support from Sherwood Police Department—and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Chris Givens and Amanda Fields.
