Lexington, KY- Emmanuel Maurice Strange, who previously admitted to conspiring to distribute hundreds of oxycodone pills throughout Nicholasville, Kentucky, and surrounding areas, was sentenced this week.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Danny C. Reeves sentenced Strange, who had no prior drug trafficking history, to 46 months imprisonment. Strange is the last of his co-defendants to be sentenced in the case. The other four defendants involved, Derald Johnson, Jami Oliver, Dave Barnett, and Roberto Avalos Gallegos, were previously sentenced to 67 months, 41 months, 37 months, and 18 months, respectively.       

According to plea agreements, Strange, Johnson, Oliver, Barnett, Avalos, and others, worked together to distribute oxycodone throughout Nicholasville, Kentucky and surrounding areas. Strange was responsible for transporting oxycodone pills from Detroit, Michigan to Nicholasville, Kentucky, where Barnett would further distribute the pills. Johnson, aided and abetted by Oliver, also supplied large quantities of oxycodone to Barnett, and were observed conducting a distribution to Avalos on the day of their arrest.                  

Under federal law, the defendants must serve 85 percent of their prison sentence.  Afterwards, Johnson will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for five years, and all other defendants will be under supervision for three years.

“The distribution of opioids, such as oxycodone pills, remains a significant issue in central Kentucky,” said Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. “Our Office is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to hold opioid traffickers, like these defendants, accountable for their criminal conduct. I commend the hard work and cooperation of federal, state, and local law enforcement in dismantling a significant, multi-state drug trafficking operation that was responsible for the distribution of thousands of oxycodone pills in our region.”

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Daniel Dodds, Acting Special Agent in Charge, DEA, Louisville Field Division; Commissioner Chief Todd Justice, Nicholasville Police Department Drug Task Force jointly announced the sentences.

The investigation was conducted by DEA and Nicholasville Police Department’s Drug Task Force.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren Tanner Bradley.

— END —