The last of eight men charged in connection with a 2013 crackdown on drug trafficking in the Texarkana area dubbed Operation M-Pact received a 10-year federal prison sentence last week.
Johnny Voneric Hunt, 42, and seven others were charged with conspiracy and other crimes in a 21-count indictment handed down Nov. 13, 2013 in a Texarkana federal court. Hunt is the last of the eight men to be sentenced.
In December 2013, local, state and federal investigators rounded up dozens of suspected drug traffickers and announced details of Operation M-Pact, a multi-agency investigation into drug trafficking, particularly methamphetamine. More than 30 defendants were charged with state and federal drug crimes. The indictment naming Hunt included federal drugs and weapons offenses against a group of men investigators believe were responsible for a sizable amount of the area’s drug problems.
Hunt remained a fugitive for some time. Eventually Hunt was arrested and brought for arraignment in January at which he appeared with Texarkana lawyer John Stroud.
Last week Hunt received a 10-year term and a $22,000 money judgment as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas. The money judgment is meant to represent the expected proceeds of the criminal offense to which Hunt agreed to plea, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Locker said at Hunt’s sentencing hearing.
Following his release from prison, Hunt will be supervised by federal probation officials for five years. U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder ordered drug treatment for Hunt while in Bureau of Prisons custody and agreed to recommend placement in a facility equipped with medical staff capable of managing Hunt’s health issues.
Stroud told Schroeder Hunt suffers from “chronic vomiting.”
The other defendants listed in the same indictment as Hunt received the following sentences: Calvin Avery, 10 years; Rodrick Grimes, 15 years; Jason Martin, three years and five months; Kenneth McCoy, three years and ten months; Aaron Meeks, four years and three months; Everett Moore, six years; Clarence Willis, three years and one month. There is no parole from a federal prison sentence. Offenders may receive about 54 days per year in good time credit depending on their behavior while behind bars.
Operation M-Pact targeted drug trafficking along the Interstate 30 corridor and resulted in charges for dealers and suppliers in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee.
