A Texarkana man who was involved in trafficking large amounts of methamphetamine plead guilty in federal court Wednesday.
Gregory Phillip Walker, aka Big Foot, was one of two men arrested in January in a sting operation by the Texas Department of Public Safety and Drug Enforcement Administration. Charges against Walker’s co-defendant, Keith Everett Kelley, aka Head, are still pending.
Walker, 57, was working with Kelley, 32, to take delivery of and pay for one and half pounds of meth from a supplier in California when the men were arrested Jan. 9, according to plea documents filed Wednesday in Walker’s case. Walker and Kelley met the supplier at a house in Texarkana and intended to pay $10,200 for the pound and a half of methamphetamine when law enforcement swooped in and took them into custody.
Walker was released on bond following his arrest but Kelley remains in jail.
Walker plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine at a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas. Walker’s lawyer, Craig Bass of Longview, Texas, filed a motion asking that Walker be permitted to remain free until sentencing because of upcoming back surgery. Craven granted the motion.
Walker will return to court in a few months for sentencing before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder.
He and Kelley face ten years to life and a fine up to $10 million. If either defendant has a prior felony drug conviction, the minimum punishment increases to 20 years and the maximum fine to $20 million.
Kelley’s case is set for a jury trial Sept. 28. Assistant U.S. Attorney D. Ryan Locker is prosecuting.
