A Glynn County man has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to trafficking drugs that led to two fatal overdoses.
Jon Dillon Screen, 32, of Brunswick, Ga., was sentenced to 240 months in prison after pleading guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute and to Distribute 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine and a Quantity of Fentanyl, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood also ordered Screen to serve five years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
“Dillon Screen’s sentence is among the highest of all defendants sentenced in Operation Ghost Busted, and for good reason: He sold drugs that killed people,” said U.S. Attorney Steinberg. “This multi-agency investigation and prosecution demonstrates our commitment to holding accountable those who illegally sell fentanyl and other deadly drugs.”
Operation Ghost Busted, unsealed in January 2023 as USA v. Alvarez et al., charged 76 defendants with involvement in a drug trafficking conspiracy that distributed large amounts of high-grade methamphetamine, along with fentanyl, heroin, and alprazolam in the greater Glynn County area.
For more than two years, investigators from various agencies collaborated to identify the sprawling drug trafficking network. The conspiracy involved members of criminal street gangs including the Ghost Face Gangsters, Aryan Brotherhood, Bloods, and Gangster Disciples.
Screen, a member of the Gangster Disciples with a significant criminal history, was a large-scale distributor and dealer in the operation. Two individuals died after injecting fentanyl obtained directly from Screen.
“In September 2021, the McIntosh County Sheriff’s Office investigated Jon Dillon Screen after his girlfriend was found deceased in Darien,” said Lt. Mike Ward with the McIntosh County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division. “In the course of several months following the untimely death of Rebecca Cain, Investigators were able to obtain evidence that resulted in the arrest of Screen."
“Dillon Screen didn’t care whose lives he put in danger to sell his fatal drug mixtures, including his own girlfriend,” said Senior Supervisory Special Agent Will Clark of FBI Atlanta’s Brunswick office. “Operation Ghost Busted put a major dent in drug trafficking in Southeast Georgia. We will continue operations like this as long as gangs and dealers continue selling their deadly drugs.”
The investigation was conducted under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and involved multiple agencies, including the FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, and local law enforcement.
Operation Ghost Busted serves as a reminder that drug trafficking is not a victimless crime and that law enforcement agencies are committed to combating drug distribution and holding accountable those responsible for the devastation caused by dangerous drugs.