A Farmville native involved in multistate drug trafficking organization based in Texas and Mexico has been sentenced to 17 years in prison in connection with the seizure of nearly 42 pounds of cocaine and $862,000 in drug money in Henrico County.
Jamane A. Greene, 45, would repeatedly travel from Atlanta, where he was then living, to the Richmond area “to put huge quantities of drugs into the community” from about July 2021 until April 2022, when he was arrested, federal prosecutors said.
Greene was caught by narcotics officers from the Drug Enforcement Administration and Chesterfield and Henrico police with 10 bricks of cocaine weighing 22 pounds while attempting to flee after he flew to Richmond International Airport and checked into a Henrico hotel. Authorities subsequently searched one of his storage units on Williamsburg Road and recovered an additional nine bricks of cocaine weighing 20 pounds.
A search of a second storage unit on Laburnum Avenue leased by Greene turned up $862,400 in cash that he later admitted was drug profits. During the same time frame, authorities searched the room of co-defendant Elvis Elias Lopez and discovered a duffle bag containing $265,035 hidden under a bed.
The joint local and federal investigation revealed that Greene and Lopez had been working together to distribute cocaine in the Richmond area, and they would fly here separately — Greene from Atlanta and Lopez from Texas — as part of their operation.
At the end of a sentencing hearing Friday in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Judge Henry E. Hudson sentenced Greene to 204 months in prison on his earlier guilty plea to possession with the intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine. The punishment was at the top of discretionary federal sentencing guidelines, which for Greene was calculated at a range of 168 to 210 months.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Anthony urged a sentence of 192 months, while defense attorney David Whaley sought a downward variance from the guidelines of 120 months.
It appears the judge took into account that Greene had been released from federal prison about 10 years ago for a similar drug trafficking crime.
Greene was convicted in 2007 of dealing about 1.5 kilos of crack cocaine over three years as part of a drug trafficking conspiracy that operated out of Prince Edward County. He originally was sentenced to 168 months in prison, but the punishment was reduced to 96 months due to federal reductions in penalties for crack cocaine sentences. He was released from custody in 2013 and from supervised probation in 2016.
“Despite this grace and the defendant’s performance on supervision, he reverted to the instant criminal behavior wherein he dealt with even greater quantities of controlled substances … over a shorter period of time, approximately nine months,” Anthony said in court filings.
Greene again came to the attention of law enforcement on March 15, 2022, when he flew into Richmond and went directly to his storage unit on Williamsburg Road to pick up a luggage bag. He then drove to the nearby Super 8 motel where Lopez was staying; Greene was observed rolling the luggage bag from his car to Lopez’s room.
Five minutes later, Greene loaded the luggage bag into his car, left the motel and drove directly to his storage unit on Williamsburg Road. Surveillance footage showed Greene place the luggage back into his unit. Lopez and his family checked out of the motel later that same morning.
Authorities learned that Greene and Lopez would be traveling again to meet in Richmond on April 14, 2022. After observing Greene engage in actions similar to his March visit, local and federal officers approached him in the parking lot of the hotel where he was staying. He dropped the bag while attempting to flee; 10 bricks of cocaine wrapped in tape were found in the bag after his arrest.
Under the terms of his plea agreement, Greene consented to forfeit to the government the $862,400 found in one of his storage units. He also agreed to forfeit two handguns, an 18-karat gold Rolex watch, a 14-karat gold “Success Addictz” pendant and a gold necklace paved with diamonds.
Lopez pleaded guilty on Oct. 25 to distribution of more than 5 kilos of cocaine. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 31.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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