Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

PENSACOLA—Thirteen individuals from the Houston, Texas, and Pensacola areas were jointly indicted on federal drug trafficking and money laundering violations.  They include:

• Rodney D. Butler, 48;
• Vernetta E. Harrison, 31;
• Aston Ingram, 49;
• Antonio Blackwell, 30;
• Anthony Fisher, Jr., 25;
• Terrance D. Goodman, 38;
• Dexter A. Locke, 26;
• Michael A. McCants, 27;
• Lamarcus D. Ries, 28;
• Rodney D. Ries, 26;
• Nastassja N. Sassau, 27;
• Charlie N. Steans, 47; and
• Terrance T. Stone, 33.

In conjunction with this thirteen co-defendant indictment, Darius D. Williams, 24, and Marheem R. Smith, 23, of Pensacola, were separately indicted on related federal firearms charges. The indictment was announced today by Pamela C. Marsh, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

First appearances will take place before United States Magistrate Judges in Pensacola, Florida, and Houston, Texas, and a projected trial date is February 2015 in Pensacola.

These indictments are part of a continuing investigation into the transportation of cocaine from Texas into the Northern District of Florida.  U.S. Attorney Marsh praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration; Homeland Security Investigations; the Internal Revenue Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office; the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office; the Gulf Breeze Police Department; the Pensacola Police Department; and the State Attorney’s Office, whose joint investigation led to the indictments in the case. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David L. Goldberg.

An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial in a court of law.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 93 United States Attorneys serving as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General.  Our 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.  For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.