Tyler

By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer

Three people were sentenced in Tyler federal courts Tuesday for separate East Texas drug conspiracy cases.

Clara Arnette White, 31, was sentenced to four years in prison for her role in the Longview branch of “Operation Icebox,” a methamphetamine distribution case.

Ms. White pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess and distribute more than 500 grams but less than 1.5 kilograms of meth, beginning in January 2003.

She was indicted with 15 others from Dallas and East Texas.

At the request of defense attorney Clement Dunn, U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis recommended that she undergo substance abuse treatment while in prison. She was also ordered to serve four years of supervised release.

On Jan. 25, 2007, authorities conducted a search of Ms. White’s house and found drugs there, according to court documents. Her brother and a co-defendant, John Alex White, was with her that day and has already pleaded guilty to his involvement in the conspiracy.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Moore prosecuted the case.

The investigation that began in January 2003 previously led to 19 people being indicted in March 2006, then convicted and sentenced for their involvement in the Tyler-based organization that sold “ice” meth in Tyler, Shreveport and Miami. In February 2007, eight more people were indicted in the Tyler-based meth ring.

Michael Edward Brown, also known as Mike Jones, 33, Longview, was sentenced to two years and three months in prison by Davis for his involvement in a conspiracy to possess and distribute meth.

A nearly four-year investigation by multiple law enforcement agencies in East Texas led to the arrest of Brown and 14 others indicted for trafficking more than 500 grams of meth beginning in 2004.

Brown pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess and distribute at least 20 grams but less than 30 grams of meth, from June 2007 through August 2007.

Davis ordered that Brown undergo drug treatment and serve three years of supervised release. The government is seeking forfeiture of $1 million in cash proceeds in the conspiracy.

Moore represented the government while Brown was defended by Dan Hurst.

In U.S. District Judge Michael Schneider’s court, Meagan Renee Craft, 21, Lindale, was sentenced to three years of probation after she pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony.

She was initially charged in a 37-count indictment with 20 other people for a years-long conspiracy to sell methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana in East Texas that began in 2004.

She admitted she knew about and concealed the commission of a felony — conspiracy to possess and distribute more than 500 grams of meth, 5 kilograms of cocaine and more than 1,000 marijuana plants.

Ms. Craft was represented by Jeff Haas while Assistant U.S. Attorney Allen Hurst prosecuted the case.

The defendants in the “Operation Thin Ice” conspiracy allegedly obtained meth and cocaine from multiple sources and grew marijuana to sell in East Texas.

They also allegedly used firearms to protect the drug business and sold weapons, the indictment states.

The drugs were allegedly distributed out of co-defendants’ residences and co-defendant Andres Sosa’s business, Andrew’s Used Tires, at 6164 Reynolds Road in Tyler. The drugs were sold to confidential informants and undercover law enforcement officers, the indictment alleges.