Source: United States Department of Justice News
AUGUSTA, GA: A member of a violent motorcycle gang has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison after pleading guilty to trafficking methamphetamine.
Robert Lewis Coney Jr., 50, of North Augusta, S.C., was sentenced to 108 months in prison after previously pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and To Distribute, 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. U.S. District Court Judge Dudley H. Bowen Jr. also ordered Coney to pay a fine of $2,000 and to serve five years of supervised release after completion of his prison term.
There is no parole in the federal system.
Coney’s co-defendant, Donnie Lee Curtis Jr., 37, of Tunnel Hill, Ga., was sentenced in September to 144 months in prison after also pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and To Distribute, 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine.
“Violent crime in our communities all too often is fueled by drug traffickers, particularly those affiliated with criminal street gangs,” said U.S. Attorney Estes. “Our streets are safer with felons like Coney and Curtis behind bars.”
As described in court documents and testimony, Coney and Curtis were identified as methamphetamine traffickers during an investigation in 2021 initiated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. With assistance from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, the two were arrested during a drug deal in the parking lot of a motel in Grovetown, Ga., on May 19, 2021.
In subsequent searches of their vehicle and hotel rooms in Grovetown and in Trenton, S.C., authorities seized large amounts of high-grade methamphetamine and multiple firearms. Curtis, a member of the white supremacist Aryan Brotherhood criminal street gang, was identified as Coney’s source of supply for the illegal drugs. Coney is affiliated with the Red Devils Motorcycle Gang, a support club of the Hell’s Angels.
“These notorious gang-related drug dealers distributed poison to the community and caused fear through means of violence and intimidation,” said Robert J. Murphy, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division. “DEA and its law enforcement partners disrupted and dismantled this once-thriving criminal network which ultimately led to lengthy prison sentencings.”
The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco, and Explosives, and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremiah L. Johnson.