Co-defendants in meth case sentenced
Co-defendants in a methamphetamine distribution case were sentenced to nine-year and 10-year sentences Tuesday by a federal judge in Texarkana.
Reginald Renard Dodd and Barbara Wright appeared before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III at separate hearings in Texarkana’s downtown federal building mid-morning Tuesday. Dodd appeared with Texarkana lawyer Craig Henry and Wright with Longview, Texas, lawyer Greg Waldron.
Dodd and Wright are the only defendants named in an eightcount indictment handed down Aug. 16, 2017, in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas. Dodd was arrested Aug. 23, 2017, and Wright was arrested Sept. 26, 2017. Both have been in federal custody since.
Dodd pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, the indictment’s first count, at a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven in April.
“Within the conspiracy, I served as a distributor of methamphetamine, receiving the drugs from out-of-town suppliers, and then selling the drugs in smaller quantities to other dealers. I knew that those others whom I supplied would further distribute the methamphetamine before it was purchased by end users,” according to a factual basis on file in the case.
Dodd was sentenced to 120 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. The remaining seven counts accusing Dodd of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and aiding and abetting were dismissed by Schroeder at Tuesday’s hearing on an oral motion by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Hornok.
Following completion of his 10-year prison term, Dodd will be supervised by federal officials for five years. Wright too will be supervised for five years following completion of her nine-year term.
Wright pleaded guilty to the indictment’s eighth count at a hearing before Craven in April. According to a factual basis, Wright sold more than 13 grams of methamphetamine Sept. 21, 2016, to someone working with officers from the Texarkana, Texas, Police Department and Texas Department of Public Safety in an investigation of methamphetamine distribution.
“This was not the first or last time I distributed methamphetamine,” a factual basis in Wright’s case states. “My source of supply was my co-defendant, Reginald Renard Dodd, who regularly fronted methamphetamine, meaning that he would give me methamphetamine without payment but would expect to be paid once I had sold that quantity of methamphetamine. Dodd regularly fronted me one to two ounces of methamphetamine at a time.”
The counts remaining against Wright were dismissed by Schroeder following an oral motion at sentencing from Hornok. If either of the defendants violates the conditions of their supervised release, they could be ordered to serve additional time behind bars.
llarowe@texarkanagazette.com