Nine East Texans were arrested Friday after being federally indicted on drug and firearms violations.
Individuals from Smith, Cherokee and Rusk counties were indicted on 42 counts on Jan. 15 for being involved in a conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine.
Those arrested were Alexa Leigh Brown, 50, of Tyler; Stanley Wayne Hunter, 43, of Troup, David Raymond Lusk, 41, of Jacksonville; Johnathan Rudy Duke, 30, of Reklaw; Anthony Russell Hamilton, 42, of Tyler; Donald Ray Carr, 55, of Tyler; Justin Ray Carr, 32, of Tyler; Joseph Paul Melancon, 46, of Henderson; and Tonya Hudson Hammonds, 46, of Troup, according to a news release.
The indictment states the arrested people allegedly conspired with others to distribute a large amount of meth in East Texas, and several of the arrested were convicted felons who had firearms. On Jan. 22 and 24, those charged were arraigned on conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, felon in possession of a firearm, and use, carrying or possession of a firearm during and in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, the release stated.
The case came out of a roughly two-year investigation led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration, Texas Department of Public Safety, Smith County Sheriff’s Office, Tyler Police Department, Troup Police Department, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, Jacksonville Police Department, Rusk County Sheriff’s Office, Henderson Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lucas Machicek is prosecuting the case, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.