Richard Dwight Alston, a 39-year-old Raleigh man and former NFL player, was sentenced to 168 months in federal prison for his central role in a sprawling marijuana trafficking and money laundering conspiracy that flooded North Carolina with over 1,000 kilograms of high-grade pot. U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II handed down the 14-year sentence in Wilmington, N.C., marking the end of a years-long federal investigation targeting one of the East Coast’s most lucrative underground drug operations.
Court documents reveal Alston masterminded a cross-country network that transported massive quantities of marijuana from western states into Raleigh for redistribution. The Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service peeled back the layers of his operation after a multi-year probe, culminating in a November 2, 2017 raid on suspected stash apartments. There, agents seized more than 40 pounds of processed marijuana and $371,670 in cash—just a fraction of the empire’s true scale.
Days later, on November 6, 2017, law enforcement struck again, intercepting Alston’s next shipment. Two couriers were arrested while transporting nearly 200 kilograms of marijuana stuffed into seven duffel bags. Inside their vehicle, agents also found $67,814 in cash—dirty money en route to the top. The bust confirmed Alston’s operation was far from a local hustle; it was a high-volume, interstate syndicate moving industrial-scale loads.
A parallel IRS financial probe cracked open Alston’s laundering scheme, tracing over $2.7 million in drug profits funneled through a legitimate-seeming business bank account. The money, investigators say, was systematically cleaned to mask its illicit origins. The court ordered full forfeiture of the $2,708,000—every dollar accounted for, every penny seized.
The takedown was part of OCDETF Operation Pick Six, a federal dragnet designed to dismantle major drug organizations through coordinated action across federal, state, and local lines. The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force doesn’t play games—it follows the drugs, the money, and the bodies until the kingpins fall. Alston’s conviction is the latest trophy in a long war against organized narcotics trafficking.
Robert J. Higdon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, announced the sentencing, crediting the DEA and IRS for their relentless pursuit. The Raleigh Police Department provided critical support. Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura S. Howard prosecuted. Case No. 5:20-CR-00005-M is now closed, with Alston vanishing into the federal system—his NFL past a distant echo beneath the weight of 168 months behind bars.
Related Federal Cases
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Key Facts
- State: North Carolina
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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