The last of 17 defendants in Operation Wheat Fields has been sentenced to 168 months in federal prison.
Justin Wayne Fields, 40, of Swainsboro, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess and distribute and to methamphetamine and heroin, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, in a news release.
“Justin Fields and his network conspired with a Georgia state prison inmate to facilitate methamphetamine and heroin shipments to Richmond and Emanuel counties,” she said.
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Investigations led to the 2022 indictments of 10 defendants in USA v. Fields et al and seven in USA v. Wheatley et al for conspiracy to distribute large amounts of meth and heroin in the two counties.
The investigation, led by the Swainsboro Police Department and ATF, identified a pipeline of drugs from Mexico routed through Atlanta to the Augusta area coordinated by defendants using text messages and Facebook.
“This sentence is a direct message to criminals that ATF will not allow egregious violations of our laws go unpunished,” said Beau Kolodka, assistant special agent in charge of the Atlanta ATF field office.
Previously sentenced in the case include Augusta defendants Jayson Dwayne Wheatley, to 240 months in prison, Joshua Brooks Woodward to 134 months in prison and Eiizabeth Sarah Hagan to 120 months in prison.
