DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Northern District of Florida

For Immediate Release

Monday, March 30, 2015
Pamela C. Marsh
, United States Attorney
Contact: Amy Alexander, Public Information Officer

Texas Drug Source Pleads Guilty in Multi-State Cocaine Conspiracy

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Rodney D. Butler, a/k/a “Rodney Davenport,” 48, of the Houston, Texas, area, pled guilty today to conspiring to distribute more than 50 kilograms of cocaine and conspiring to launder tens of thousands of dollars in cocaine-derived currency. The plea was announced today by Pamela C. Marsh, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. Butler is the twelfth defendant to plead guilty in the case.

During his plea, Butler admitted to supplying and distributing large amounts of cocaine in and around Houston, Texas, Shreveport, Louisiana, and the Florida panhandle between 2012 and 2014. During the investigation, Butler was intercepted over a federal wiretap arranging for the payment and transportation of multiple kilograms of cocaine. Butler conspired with co-defendants Nastassja Sassau and Terrance Stone to launder drug proceeds through Butler’s Wells Fargo bank accounts in Texas and Pensacola.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 18, 2015, before Chief United States District Judge M. Casey Rodgers at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola, Florida. Butler faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, at least five years supervised release, and a maximum fine of $10 million dollars.

United States Attorney Marsh praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Gulf Breeze Police Department, the Pensacola Police Department, the State Attorney’s Office for the 1st Judicial Circuit, and the Louisiana State Police, whose joint investigation led to the charges in this case. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David L. Goldberg.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. The office strives to protect and serve the citizens of the Northern District of Florida through the ethical, vigorous, and impartial enforcement of the laws of the United States, to defend the national security, to improve the safety and quality of life in our communities through the protection of civil rights, and to protect the public funds and financial assets of the United States. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.

Tampa Field Division