CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Three drug traffickers from California who were arrested after they tried to smuggle six kilograms of methamphetamine and a kilogram of fentanyl through the Charlotte Douglas International Airport have been sentenced to prison, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Dericc Milford Adams, 35, of Long Beach, California, was sentenced to 132 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Anthony Quintin Boyd, 30, of Compton, California, was ordered to serve 120 months in prison followed five years of supervised release. David Anton Stallworth, 37, also of Compton, California, was sentenced to 108 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
According to court documents and court proceedings, on August 1, 2023, Adams, Boyd, and Stallworth boarded a flight from California to Charlotte, with fentanyl and methamphetamine hidden in luggage. When they arrived at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, a drug detecting canine alerted the presence of narcotics in two checked suitcases. One of the suitcases was checked by Boyd and the other by Adams. Law enforcement discovered hidden in the luggage more than six kilograms of methamphetamine and nearly a kilogram of fentanyl. Included in the seizure were gallon-sized plastic baggies of methamphetamine hidden in Welch’s Fruit Snack boxes.
In addition to the conduct described above, Stallworth was also convicted and sentenced for trafficking approximately three and a half kilograms of methamphetamine and 100 grams a fentanyl in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Adams and Boyd pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess and distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine. Adams also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine. Stallworth pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to possess and distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine. One count for the North Carolina conduct and a second count for the Arkansas offense. The defendants are in federal custody and will be ordered to report to the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.
In making the announcement, U.S. Attorney Ferguson thanked Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Field Office in Arkansas.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte handled the prosecution.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — Western District of North Carolina — U.S. Department of Justice press release.