Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

MADISON, WIS. -- - John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Paul A. Winfield, 41, and Dante R. McAlister, 36, both of Beloit, Wis., were arrested early this morning on federal drug charges.

Winfield was charged yesterday with distributing heroin in a four-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury sitting in Madison. McAlister was charged yesterday with distributing heroin and cocaine in a five-count indictment returned by the grand jury. Each charge in the two indictments carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Both defendants appeared in federal court today and were detained pending trial.

Winfield and McAlister are two of 18 individuals who have been charged with a federal drug or gun crime in the past year as the result of investigations by G-ROC, a task force formed through the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Violent Crime Initiative. Its members include the FBI; Rock County Sheriff’s Office; Rock County District Attorney’s Office; Beloit Police Department; and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The prosecution of Winfield will be handled by United States Attorney Vaudreuil and the prosecution of McAlister will be handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Altman.

You are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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