Drug trafficker sentenced to over 17 years in prison
The second of two people involved in an extensive drug-dealing operation in Garland County arrested in a raid in 2019 was sentenced to over 17 years in federal prison Thursday in U.S. District
Court in Hot Springs.
Paul Ambrosia Scaife, 41, who listed a Pine Bluff address at the time of his arrest, was sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison followed by three years of supervised release on one count of distribution of a controlled substance, meth, Acting U.S. Attorney David Clay Fowlkes of the Western District of Arkansas said in a news release.
According to court documents, in the summer of 2019, detectives with the 18th East Judicial District Drug Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration launched an investigation into Scaife for drug trafficking and in July 2019, detectives conducted a controlled purchase of meth from him.
Lessie Christine Augusta Galo, 42, of Hot Springs, who was reportedly the head of the operation and was arrested the same day as Scaife, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison on Nov. 16, 2020, after she pleaded guilty in February 2020 in U.S. District Court.
Galo was indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2019 on one felony count of distribution of a controlled substance that contained meth and will have to serve 85%, or over 21 years, of her sentence before she is eligible for parole under federal sentencing guidelines. Scaife will also have to serve 85% of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
“The investigation determined that Galo was the head of an extensive drug distribution network that operated primarily in the Western District of Arkansas. In July and August of 2019, detectives conducted multiple controlled purchases of methamphetamine from Galo,” an earlier release said.
Scaife and Galo have remained in custody since their arrest in an Aug. 30, 2019, raid on a residence on Richard Street in Hot Springs by the DTF and Homeland Security. Officers located Galo and Scaife along with various quantities of drugs and firearms in the house.
Both Galo and Scaife were arrested on multiple charges that were later withdrawn at the state level after both were indicted federally.
Lessie Galo, who was on parole at the time, was previously sentenced to six years in prison on July 16, 2018, after pleading guilty to two counts of possession of a firearm by certain persons in connection with an incident on Feb. 14, 2018, where her son was shot in the face by another teen, Keonte Deshon Rauls, 19, who was later sentenced to three years in prison on a charge of second-degree battery.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Achorn and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Trent Daniels prosecuted the case Thursday which was presided over by Chief Judge Susan O. Hickey.