Little Rock man gets 10 years

32-year-old ran large drug ring out of car dealership

A Little Rock man who ran a large cocaine and marijuana ring out of his used-car dealership in Little Rock was sentenced Wednesday to just over 10 years in federal prison.

Before being sentenced on a charge of conspiring to possess and distribute cocaine, to which he pleaded guilty in November, Freddie Eugene Brewster, 32, told a federal judge his indictment in September 2014 “was sort of a blessing for me, because it sent me to Mason, Tenn., where I found God and he found me.”

Brewster, who operated Brewster’s Used Auto & Detail just off University Avenue, was referring to a detention center for federal inmates.

He admitted that during 2013 and 2014, he headed the Arkansas portion of a drug-trafficking ring that distributed large quantities of illegal drugs from Mexican cartels into central Arkansas.

Brewster told U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes he is “very, very remorseful,” and apologized to the court and to his family.

Brewster was indicted alongside 24 other people in three states including his wife, Christina Brewster, and his mother, Linda Brewster. The 62- count indictment was superseded Nov. 4, 2015, when more names and methamphetamine distribution allegations were added, though Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Givens told the judge Brewster wasn’t involved with methamphetamine.

Most of the people charged in the case have pleaded guilty, but Cristina Picazo, remains a fugitive. As the leader of the Arkansas traffickers, Brewster faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, and as long as life in prison. Federal sentencing guidelines recommended a range of 121 months (10 years and one month) to 151 months (12½ years) in prison.

Defense attorney Blake Hendrix asked Holmes to sentence Brewster to the statutory minimum, arguing that some of the people Brewster supplied had other suppliers as well, and citing numerous letters written to the court on Brewster’s behalf seeking leniency.

“Mr. Brewster has done everything imaginable to make this bad situation right,” Hendrix said, noting when Holmes allowed Brewster’s pretrial release twice, once to attend a funeral and once to be treated for a dental emergency, he showed he can abide by the rules of the court and society.

Hendrix also said Brewster has enrolled in an online college, has “dedicated himself” to a prison ministry and has taken advantage of all drug programs available to him during his incarceration.