News Release [printer-friendly version]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 18, 2008
For Information Contact,
Special Agent Ramona Sanchez
Public Information Officer
(602) 664-5725

Phoenix Man Sentenced To 6 Years In Federal Prison For Role In Marijuana Distribution Conspiracy

APR 18 -- (Phoenix, AZ) - Elizabeth W. Kempshall, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Phoenix Field Division joined Diane J. Humetewa, U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, to announce the sentencing of Charles Goodwin. Charles Goodwin, 28, of Phoenix, was sentenced here yesterday by U.S. District Judge James A. Teilborg to six years in federal prison for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy. Goodwin pleaded guilty on December 21, 2007 to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana. The sentence also included a money judgment of $50,000 and the forfeiture of a 2000 Mercedes Benz.

Goodwin was involved in a drug trafficking conspiracy that spanned several years and that involved his mother, brother and others in the Phoenix metropolitan area who transported marijuana from Phoenix to various cities in the mid-west. In December 2006, Goodwin, driving one of numerous loads that he transported, left the Phoenix area en route to Chicago with his mother in a car loaded with 13 bales of marijuana weighing a total of approximately100 kilograms. On December 28, 2006, they were stopped in Kansas and officers found the marijuana in the vehicle. Each was to be paid to deliver the drugs to a drug distribution organization in the Chicago area.

Others in the organization were charged and their cases are pending in federal court. The investigation in this case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Scottsdale Police Department and the Kansas Highway Patrol. The prosecution was handled by Brian G. Larson, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.