Convicted in meth case gets 7 years

A Hot Springs man arrested as part of a multiagency drug sting, Operation Who’s Next?, in 2019 was sentenced to seven years in federal prison Monday, U.S. Attorney David Clay Fowlkes of the Western District announced.

Lee Kelly Cargile, 36, was also sentenced in U.S. District Court in Hot Springs to three years of supervised release after he serves his prison sentence on one count of distribution of meth. Judge Susan O. Hickey presided over the sentencing and Cargile was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Achorn and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Trent Daniels.

According to court documents, in July 2019, detectives with the 18th Judicial District East Drug Task Force received information that Cargile was trafficking large quantities of meth in Garland County. Later that month, detectives were able to conduct multiple controlled purchases from Cargile which were tested at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration lab and confirmed to be pure meth.

Cargile’s arrest was part of a nine-month investigation initiated by the local drug task force, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the DEA, and other local and state agencies beginning in June 2019 that was dubbed, Operation Who’s Next?, which resulted in 65 arrests related to meth distribution and firearms violations.

Over 2,014 grams, or 4.44 pounds, of meth were seized along with 20 firearms in Hot Springs and Garland County, many of which were in possession of convicted felons prohibited by law from having firearms, Garland County prosecutor Michelle Lawrence, project director for the task force, said at a Feb. 21, 2020, news conference.

It was one of the largest in terms of suspects arrested. Earlier operations included Operation Blue Sky, which ended in June 2019, resulting in 32 arrests; Operation Thunderstruck, in February and March 2017, which resulted in 40 arrests; Operation 8 Ball, in 2016, which resulted in 49 arrests; and Operation White Horse, in 2018, which resulted in 13 arrests.

Cargile was previously sentenced to four years in prison and four years probation on June 8, 2015, for possession of a firearm by certain persons. He is classified as a habitual offender having been previously convicted in 2002 in Union County of aggravated robbery, residential burglary and theft of property and in 2014 in Garland County for possession of a controlled substance. He was on parole from the 2014 conviction at the time of his sentencing in 2015.