CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh announced on February 29, 2024, a second superseding indictment that adds nine charges, including firearms offenses, to the ongoing federal drug trafficking case involving 19 defendants, marking the largest-ever prosecution of its kind in the region.

The original indictment, returned in August 2023, implicated 17 defendants in a large-scale drug conspiracy distributing significant quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine in and around Charlottesville. The investigation gained prominence as the first prosecution under the Justice Department’s Project Safe Neighbors initiative, encompassing Charlottesville, Albemarle County, and the University of Virginia. Two additional defendants were added to a superseding indictment returned in September 2023.

The second superseding indictment, issued the day before, adds nine new charges. Most Notably, it charges Landon Devon Fields, Bobby Eugene Christmas, Dashard Brown, Brooks Lorenzo Woodfolk, Norman Eugene Goins, Jr., and Laqueshia Chanice Burges each with one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Fields, Christmas, and Woodfolk were also charged with the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

In addition to the firearms charges Fields, Christmas, Brown, and Woodfolk were charged with new drug distribution offenses.

Finally, the document seeks the forfeiture of 25 firearms, ammunition, and over $70,000 in U.S. currency.

The indictment alleges a conspiracy among the defendants to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine in the Charlottesville region from February 2023 to the date of the indictment.

Others charged include:

• DuShaun Lamont Gregory, 36, of Henrico, Virginia.
• Tyquane Pertell Gregory, 27, of Charlottesville, Virginia.
• Michael Edward Cornett, 29, of Charlottesville, Virginia.
• Antone Laron Harris, 41, of Charlottesville, Virginia.
• Ashlee Renee Morris, 37, of Barboursville, Virginia.
• Shaheem Taishaun Michie, 18, of Arlington, Virginia.
• John Ellis Turner III, 42, of Charlottesville, Virginia.
• Gary Wayne Woodson, 66, of Crozet, Virginia.
• Cedric Trent, 25, of Charlottesville, Virginia.
• Dustin Lee Welch, 34, of Dillwyn, Virginia.

The Virginia State Police 3A Regional Drug and Gang Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and various local law enforcement agencies are collaborating on the investigation. The case is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiatives, targeting high-level drug traffickers and reducing violent crime.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald M. Huber is prosecuting the case. An indictment is an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.