Man pleads guilty to trafficking meth

The FBI began investigating suspected drug trafficking by Lacortney D. Sanders, 34, aka “Supreme,” in October 2013. Agents identified Sanders as a supplier of meth in Hempstead County and “elsewhere in the Western District of Arkansas,” with the help of cooperating sources, according to a plea agreement filed last week in the Texarkana Division of the Western District of Arkansas.

Sanders entered a guilty plea to distribution of methamphetamine last week at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey in the Texarkana Division of the Western District of Arkansas. A charge of conspiracy to distribute meth in 2013 and 2014 is expected to be dismissed at sentencing.

Accoding to the plea agreement, Sanders sold “ice,” a street name for methamphetamine for $800 per ounce. An undercover operative paid Sanders $2,400 in FBI “buy money” for three ounces of meth in November 2013. Sanders was indicted by a federal grand jury Feb. 25, 2015. He has been in jail since his arrest on the federal charges Oct. 16, 2015.

Sanders’ case will be scheduled for sentencing once the court has received a report from federal pretrial services which will include a recommendation for sentencing under federal guidelines. Sanders faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum of life. A fine up to $1 million is possible.