BRUNSWICK, GA: The final defendant in a massive drug trafficking organization has been convicted on all charges after a two-day jury trial.
Blake K. Screen, 36, of Brunswick, was found guilty on charges of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and to Distribute Methamphetamine and Fentanyl, and Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. Screen faces a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison, along with substantial financial penalties and a period of supervised release upon completion of any prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
“As the final defendant awaiting adjudication in this conspiracy, Blake Screen’s conviction represents a milestone in this investigation,” said U.S. Attorney Steinberg. “The investigators and prosecutors performed outstanding work in removing this drug trafficking operation from our community and holding the conspirators accountable.”
Screen was one of 76 defendants indicted in USA v. Alvarez et al., dubbed Operation Ghost Busted because of the drug trafficking conspiracy’s ties to the Ghost Face Gangsters and other criminal street gangs. Unsealed in January 2023, the indictment resulted from an investigation that identified 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 the FBI Coastal Georgia Violent Gang Task Force, the Glynn County Police Department, the Brunswick Police Department, the Glynn County Sheriff's Office, and the Camden County Sheriff's Office collaborated with multiple federal, state, and local agencies to identify the sprawling drug trafficking network. The conspiracy operated inside and outside Georgia prisons coordinated by members of the Ghost Face Gangsters working with affiliates of other gangs including the Aryan Brotherhood, Bloods, and Gangster Disciples.
During the trial before U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood jurors learned that Screen conspired by text and Facebook messages with other traffickers in the organization – many of whom were inmates in Georgia state prisons – to transport and sell large quantities of illegal drugs including methamphetamine and fentanyl. Investigators found more than 65 doses of fentanyl—a deadly synthetic opioid—in Screen’s possession when he was taken into custody.
Of the other 75 original defendants in Operation Ghost Busted 70 have been sentenced to prison terms as much as life after pleading guilty; four are awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty; one defendant died while awaiting trial. Judge Wood will schedule sentencing for Screen upon completion of a pre-sentence investigation by U.S. Probation Services.
Operation Ghost Busted—the largest drug trafficking prosecution in Southern District history—was investigated under Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies disrupts dismantles highest-level criminal organizations threatening United States using prosecutor-led intelligence-driven multi-agency approach.
Agencies involved include FBI Coastal Georgia Violent Gang Task Force; Bureau Alcohol Tobacco Firearms Explosives; U.S Marshals Service; Georgia Bureau Investigation; Georgia Department Corrections; Georgia Department Community Supervision; Glynn County Police Department; Brunswick Police Department; Glynn County Sheriff’s Office sheriff's offices Pierce Camden Wayne Treutlen McIntosh Toombs Telfair Dodge Ware counties prosecuted Assistant U.S Attorneys Jennifer J Kirkland L Alexander Hamner Criminal Division Deputy Chief E Greg Gilluly Jr.