Walter Ray Hamilton, Sean Jones Sentenced in Chamblee Drug Ring

Walter Ray Hamilton, 35, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, and James Robert Jones, a/k/a Sean Jones, 43, of Dallas, Georgia, are headed to federal prison after being sentenced for their roles in a multi-kilogram cocaine and marijuana trafficking ring that operated within 350 feet of Chamblee Charter High School. The house used as the operation’s nerve center sat in a quiet residential neighborhood, turning what should have been a safe zone into a hub for illegal narcotics.

Hamilton was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mark H. Cohen to six years, three months in prison, followed by six years of supervised release, on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and maintaining a premises for drug distribution within 1,000 feet of a school. Jones received five years, ten months in prison and three years of supervised release for the same conspiracy charge. Both men pleaded guilty, with Hamilton’s conviction dating back to June 30, 2016.

According to court filings, the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Postal Inspection Service launched the investigation in June 2014 after tracing drug shipments from Texas to Atlanta. Agents zeroed in on the Chamblee house where Hamilton lived and where packages were routinely delivered. On two separate occasions, cars leaving the property were pulled over, yielding multiple kilogram seizures of cocaine and marijuana.

The final takedown came when agents watched Hamilton, Jones, and others leave the house in a four-car caravan. When stopped, Jones fled in his vehicle. Aerial surveillance tracked him until he abandoned the car; he was captured after a short foot chase. Inside the four vehicles, agents seized 55 kilograms of marijuana, cash, and drug trafficking paraphernalia. A search of the house added four more kilograms of marijuana, scales, a money counter, and packaging materials.

Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement confiscated approximately four kilograms of cocaine, six kilograms of methamphetamine, 75 kilograms of marijuana, seven handguns, a bulletproof vest, $65,200 in cash, and a stolen BMW with altered VIN numbers. The operation exposed a well-organized network that exploited the postal system to move bulk drugs into the Atlanta metro area.

‘This Atlanta-based organization brought the scourge of dangerous drugs to our community, and set up its base of operations down the street from a school,’ said U.S. Attorney John Horn. Daniel R. Salter, DEA Atlanta Field Division, added, ‘They had the audacity to conduct their unlawful activities in close proximity to an educational facility, which cannot and will not be tolerated.’ The U.S. Postal Inspection Service emphasized their ongoing mission to protect the mail system from criminal abuse through interagency cooperation.