The last defendant in an Augusta-area drug trafficking conspiracy has been sentenced to nearly 13 years in federal prison. Justin Wayne Fields, 40, of Swainsboro, Ga., pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, Methamphetamine and Heroin. Fields was sentenced to 168 months in prison, fined $2,500, and ordered to serve three years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term.
"Justin Fields and his network conspired with a Georgia state prison inmate to facilitate methamphetamine and heroin shipments from Atlanta to Richmond and Emanuel Counties," said U.S. Attorney Jill E. Steinberg. "The investigation and prosecution of this operation and a related conspiracy sent more than a dozen defendants to federal prison, removing their malign influence from our communities."
The investigations, known as Operation Wheat Fields, resulted in the indictments of 10 defendants in October 2022 and seven defendants in April 2022. The conspiracies involved the transportation and distribution of large amounts of methamphetamine and heroin in Richmond and Emanuel counties. The investigation revealed a pipeline of illegal drugs from Mexico, routed through Atlanta and into the Augusta area, facilitated by defendants, including Georgia prison inmates who used contraband devices to communicate.
Fields' nine co-defendants and the seven defendants in the related indictment all pled guilty to federal charges. Of the 17 defendants, 16 have been sentenced to terms of up to 240 months in federal prison for their roles in the conspiracies.
"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 Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. "If you traffic guns and drugs, you will be targeted, and we will ensure that you are prosecuted and removed from our streets."
"Those who distribute deadly drugs, such as methamphetamine and heroin, create serious risks to our communities," said Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Atlanta Division. "DEA will use any resource necessary to remove these dangerous drug traffickers from our communities."
"The GBI and our partners will not tolerate the nefarious acts of those who seek to traffic drugs in Georgia," said Chris Hosey, Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. "These drugs poison our communities and destroy families. There is no place for illegal drugs in our state, and we will continue to work to remove them from our streets and keep our communities safe."
The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation and involved multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Swainsboro Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Emanuel County Sheriff's Office, the Richmond County Sheriff's Office, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. The prosecution is being handled by Southern District of Georgia Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia G. Rhodes.