Drug trafficking trial focuses on evidence

The government’s case against an Arkansas rap artist indicted on federal drug trafficking and weapons charges entered its second day Wednesday with testimony from agents and forensics examiners who worked on the case, as well as a co-defendant who outlined for jurors some of the inner workings of the alleged conspiracy.

Freddie Gladney III, who performs under the stage name, “Bankroll Freddie,” was indicted in November 2022 on multiple drug and firearms counts, including one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics, two counts of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, three counts of making false statements to obtain a firearm, two counts of possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, one count of possession of machine guns and one count of use of a communications facility in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

The case is being prosecuted by assistant U.S. attorneys Julie Peters, Amanda Fields and Stephen Reese Lancaster and is being presided over by U.S. District Judge James M. Moody Jr.

Gladney’s defense team is made up of Benton defense attorneys Bobby Digby II and Mack Ivy.

Gladney, 29, of Jonesboro, was one of 35 people named in a 35-count indictment and is the only one to go to trial. His co-defendants have all either entered pleas in the matter or have been dismissed from the indictment.

On Wednesday morning, FBI Special Agent Jefferson Highfill outlined the procedures followed to gather evidence in the investigation and to keep it secure.

Bryce Ziegler, an FBI analyst from the FBI headquarters in Quantico, Va., who tested one of the pistols seized from Gladney during a traffic stop near Marion on April 14, 2022, walked jurors through the operation of the Polymer 80 pistol, which copies the appearance and function of a Glock and of the modified back plate known as a “Glock switch” that enables a firearm to fire fully automatic.

Highfill, who served as the case agent overseeing the investigation, took the stand again in the afternoon to walk jurors through the details of how the investigation, which began in early 2021, progressed. Highfill explained how the wiretaps that formed the backbone of the investigation were authorized, and how they were monitored, catalogued and stored. Over the course of the investigation, he said, the FBI was assisted by officers from Arkansas State Police, Little Rock Police Department, North Little Rock Police Department, Pine Bluff Police Department, Arkansas Community Corrections, U.S. Postal Service inspectors, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Highfill said that wiretaps authorized on cell phones belonging to Gladney and to his father were activated for 30 days, each in April and in May of 2021, and agents working the “wire room” where calls were monitored staffed the facility on two shifts from 8 a.m. until midnight, “with instructions to the midnight shift if it was busy to stay on the line until it quieted down.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Jeremy “JG” Green, who pleaded guilty March 27 to one count of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and is facing up to a 20-year prison term when he is sentenced, gave jurors a look at some of the inner workings of the operation. Green testified that during his involvement in the conspiracy he sold between $5,000 and $15,000 worth of marijuana a month on average and that after meeting Gladney at a local recording studio in early 2021, he sold the rapper between 10 and 20 pounds of marijuana on five separate occasions.

At that first meeting, Green said, the two smoked marijuana together, after which he said he broached the subject of supplying Gladney.

“I kind of asked him if he needed some,” Green said. “He said he’d try from me if he didn’t have any from his normal person.”

Green said that he would store 20 to 30 pounds of marijuana at a time at a Little Rock townhouse where a third co-conspirator, Aaron “A-Nick” Nichols, lived at the time.

Nichols pleaded guilty in January to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearms and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison when he is sentenced.

He testified that when selling multi-pound quantities to Gladney, Green priced his product at $1,600 to $1,800 per pound, typically making about $300 per pound profit. He said that sometimes Gladney would pay up front for the marijuana and that sometimes Green would “front” the marijuana to him, meaning he would loan Gladney the marijuana for no money up front and would collect the money later.

“He was good for it,” Green explained. “He had the money.”

Green said he got out of the business of dealing marijuana after he was arrested on Oct. 9, 2021.

“I was raided,” he explained. “It was a warrant and they came to my house. I had realized that I was in too deep.”

Testimony resumes Thursday as the government’s case continues.