Warner Robins man gets 19 year prison sentence in drug bust. New details on the operation
Two men from Warner Robins involved in a drug-trafficking scheme were sentenced Wednesday, but they’ll serve markedly different punishments.
While one was ordered to serve more than 19 years in prison, the other will serve 4 years on probation.
Travis Warthen and Kenneth Maddox appeared in federal court Wednesday morning to be sentenced for their involvement in supplying large amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl to Middle Georgia, according to prosecutors. Warthen admitted he possessed controlled substances to distribute them, which landed him a sentence of about 19 years and seven months.
Judge C. Ashley Royal mentioned that he had to consider Warthen’s long criminal history, which his attorney, Nyonnohweah Seekie, said was a result of drug use, but that he’s been doing his best. Seekie asked Royal to have Warthen enrolled in a drug rehabilitation program while at prison, which Royal agreed to do.
Warthen told Royal that his prior cases were all petty crimes after aligning himself with people he shouldn’t have. His family wasn’t there due to a confusion with scheduling, but he wanted them, especially his four children, to see him so they’d know that prison is “not a place for them.”
“Give me a chance,” Warthen told the judge.
Other suspect was ‘human guinea pig’
Maddox was allowed to be on probation for four years after prosecutor William Keyes deemed him a “human guinea pig,” further clarifying that he was used to test drug supply. Maddox admitted to using his phone to buy methamphetamine.
Keyes told Judge C. Ashley Royal that, during their investigation, Maddox was “getting high and cleaning” during the large-scale drug trafficking scheme that took place. Maddox also cooperated in the criminal investigation and successfully completed drug rehabilitation, Keyes told Royal.
Royal commended Maddox, saying he was doing well.
Searches yielded pounds of drugs, guns, more
From October 2021 to June 2022, agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration and local law enforcement looked into a drug-trafficking scheme based in Warner Robins, led by Raiford Reeves. An Atlanta woman, Heather Breland, supplied Reeves with meth and fentanyl, according to Warthen and Maddox’s plea agreement.
The document also mentioned Reeves would supply Warthen with the narcotics he would buy from Breland on the same day.
On one occasion, agents found out through intercepted text messages and phone calls that Reeves, Kendall Howard and Luis Acosta stayed at a hotel in Locust Grove before heading to Breland’s condo in Atlanta to buy drugs. Later on, investigators found out that Breland often stored narcotics in a storage facility in Macon, according to the plea agreement.
During the investigation, agents searched a hotel room where Reeves had more than 26 grams of meth, more than 62 grams of fentanyl, oxycodone, alprazolam, clonazepam, codeine and a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol, according to the plea agreement. They also searched Breland’s condo, where they found more meth, fentanyl, cocaine and marijuana, as well as two more guns and $78,353 in cash. In the storage facility, agents found 8 pounds of marijuana in a Louis Vuitton duffle bag.
Reeves, Breland, Howard and Acosta were charged with their involvement in the drug-trafficking scheme. Randall Heath, Lucretia Snellgrove and Jeremiah Kaleta were also named in the indictment. Court records indicate they all pleaded guilty.
Breland is serving more than 20 years in prison, Reeves is serving more than 17 years, Heath is serving more than 8 years, Snellgrove is serving more than 5 years, Kaleta is serving than 6 years, Howard is serving more than a year and Acosta is serving a year of supervised release, according to court records.
