The lead defendant in Operation Wheat Fields – Jayson Wheatley, 42 – has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for methamphetamine trafficking that led to at least one death.
Wheatley and six other co-defendants were indicted last April for their involvement in an illegal drug pipeline that moved drugs from Mexico through Atlanta to Augusta.
At least one overdose death was tied to the drugs, and the investigation led to searches of multiple hotel rooms and residences, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern Judicial District.
Wheatley pleaded guilty to conspiracy with the intent to distribute and to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and an amount of heroin, said U.S. Attorney David H. Estes.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge J. Randal Hall sentenced Wheatley to 240 months in prison plus five years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
“The epidemic of drug overdoses and deaths continues to ravage our nation, and traffickers like Jayson Wheatley pour gasoline on this raging fire while enabling violent crime from the illicit drug trade,” Estes said.
According to the indictment, Wheatley communicated openly over Facebook Messenger with the other defendants about drugs, money and even Wheatley having a “dead guy” in his motel room.
In addition to Wheatley, six other defendants were named in the federal indictment: Jeffrey Mitchell Granade, 48, of Evans; Steven Curtis Newman, 55, of Martinez; Richard Travis Bargeron, 41, of Augusta; Alvin Wayne Snellgrove, 63, of Evans,;Heather Nicole Disher, 42, of Grovetown; and Dana Alexander Rau, 48, of Augusta.
Five of the defendants have been found guilty with three of them awaiting sentencing, the release stated. A related October indictment named 10 additional defendants, all but one of whom await court proceedings.
Operation Wheat Fields was investigated by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office; and the Swainsboro Police Department, and prosecuted for the United States by Southern District of Georgia Assistant U.S. Attorney and Criminal Division Chief Patricia G. Rhodes.
