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Heroin Dealer Pleads Guilty to Leading Drug Trafficking Organization
A Hampton man has pleaded guilty to leading a family-run heroin trafficking conspiracy that distributed large quantities of heroin in Virginia.
William Arthur Joe, 67, also known as Pops, Unc, and Rudy K, pleaded guilty to continuing criminal enterprise, a charge that carries a mandatory 20-year prison sentence.
According to court documents, Joe was the leader of a large heroin trafficking organization on the Virginia Peninsula that received heroin from sources in New York and New Jersey and sold it in the Hampton Roads area.
The organization, which operated from at least 2014 until Joe’s arrest in June 2017, was responsible for distributing more than three kilograms of heroin, authorities said.
Joe’s organization employed multiple family members and acquaintances to distribute the heroin, and was the focus of a two-year investigation involving controlled purchases of heroin, law enforcement surveillance and multiple court-authorized wire taps.
U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger said investigating and prosecuting heroin and fentanyl trafficking crimes is a top priority of his office as the region continues to battle the opioid epidemic.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric M. Hurt is prosecuting the case, and U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson accepted Joe’s plea. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 24.
Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime|Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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