Woman gets 15 years in drug ring case

LITTLE ROCK — A Pope County woman accused of racketeering crimes related to drug distribution in Central Arkansas and the beating of a suspected informant in 2017 was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison.

Paula Enos, 48, of Russellville pleaded guilty in September 2020 to conspiracy to violate RICO, violent crimes in aid of racketeering-kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon, and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Enos faced a possible life sentence in prison for her part in the wide-ranging drug conspiracy, but her testimony in the recent racketeering trial of co-defendant Marcus Millsap earned her a lower sentence Tuesday when she faced U.S. District Judge Brian Miller. Under federal sentencing statute, Enos faced a possible life sentence on any of three counts she faced and a possible 20-year sentence on a fourth count.

Under U. S. sentencing guidelines, Enos could have been sentenced to between 30 years and life behind bars. Instead, Assistant U.S. Attorney Liza Jane Brown recommended a 50% reduction in Enos’ sentence, which Miller granted.

Enos was accused of being associated with the New Aryan Empire, a white supremacist prison gang formed in the 1990s in the Pope County jail that spread to the Arkansas Department of Correction and eventually to communities throughout the state.

She was one of 55 people indicted by a federal grand jury as part of a far-reaching investigation that eventually snared a large number of people suspected of crimes that ranged from drug conspiracy to murder. Enos was indicted in connection with the beating of an Atkins woman whom gang members suspected of being a police informant, as well as suspicion that Enos was part of the wide-ranging drug conspiracy.

Enos pleaded guilty to participating in the drug conspiracy and of being an active participant in the beating of the woman, who along with her boyfriend were suspected by the gang of informing on another gang member whom police suspected was involved in a shooting in Pope County in 2017.

The investigation that led to the 55 indictments in 2017, dubbed Operation “To The Dirt,” began in 2016 when federal authorities assisted the Pope County sheriff’s office in a murder case involving the supremacist group. Officials said an inmate at the Pope County jail in Russellville founded the New Aryan Empire, which was described as a “violent and highly structured criminal enterprise” associated with other white supremacist groups such as the Aryan Brotherhood.

The term “To The Dirt” refers to the Empire’s slogan, which refers to a rule that members must remain in the group until they die, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Little Rock.

Enos appeared to be contrite during the hearing Tuesday and expressed remorse for her actions in a brief, tearful statement to Miller. She began by apologizing to the victim and to everyone “my addiction has affected.”

Before finishing, Enos apologized to the court and to her mother, who arrived at the hearing shortly after it began.

“I’m really sorry,” Enos said, her voice breaking as she finished her statement.

Just before sentencing, Miller asked Enos’ attorney, Russell Wood, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Liza Jane Brown about their sentencing recommendations, whether either would request a departure from the sentencing guidelines.

Wood told Miller he had no departure requests, and Brown said the government would stand on its motion made during a hearing held just before the sentencing hearing began.

Referring to Enos’ testimony during the Millsap trial, Brown said Enos did not attempt to minimize her part in the conspiracy but instead was forthcoming with the extent of her involvement.

“She got up there,” Brown said. “She stood up and she owned her conduct. I believe the sentence we previously discussed is adequate.”

In addition to the 180- month sentence, Miller gave Enos credit for 30 months served in federal custody, which effectively cut an additional 2½ years off of her sentence, making her actual sentence to 12½ years.

“That’s all counts, all to run concurrent to one another,” Miller said, ordering her federal sentence to run concurrently with a sentence she is serving.

In addition to the prison sentence, Miller ordered Enos to serve four years on supervised release once she gets out of prison and to attend drug abuse treatment while she is in prison and once she is released. He did not order her to pay a fine or restitution.

As federal marshals prepared to lead her from the courtroom, Enos asked if she could hug her mother. When the marshals responded she could not, she tearfully turned to her mother and thanked her for being at the hearing.

“I love you, Mom,” she said. “I’ll call you.”

“I love you,” Enos’ mother said as her daughter was led out of the courtroom.