Rachael P. Byrd, Methamphetamine Trafficking, Georgia 2023

A Glynn County, Ga., woman who was a large-scale meth trafficker and also worked with a corrupt guard to smuggle drugs into prison has been sentenced to nearly 30 years in federal prison.

Rachael P. Byrd, 26, of Waverly, Ga., was sentenced to 324 months in prison after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood also ordered Byrd to serve five years of supervised release upon completion of her prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

"Rachael Byrd provided a pipeline from an Atlanta methamphetamine supplier to a corrupt prison guard, and to the conspiracy’s leader inside prison walls," said U.S. Attorney Steinberg. "She fueled meth addiction in communities throughout south Georgia, and this substantial sentence holds her accountable."

Operation Ghost Busted, unsealed in January 2023 as USA v. Alvarez et al., charged 76 defendants with involvement in a drug trafficking conspiracy – linked to the white supremacist Ghost Face Gangsters – that distributed large amounts of high-grade methamphetamine, along with fentanyl, heroin, and alprazolam in the greater Glynn County area.

Byrd served as a leader in the drug trafficking organization, transporting and distributing multiple kilos of meth from an Atlanta-area supplier to other distributors and street-level dealers in south Georgia. She served as the outside link to her boyfriend, James D. NeSmith, 26, who was an inmate serving a life sentence for murder in Telfair State Prison, relaying his instructions to others in the conspiracy. Byrd also supplied meth to former prison guard Desiree M. Briley, 26, of McRae-Helena, Ga., who smuggled the drugs to NeSmith in prison.

NeSmith was sentenced to life in federal prison after pleading guilty, and Briley was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Byrd, 26, a/k/a ‘Byrd is the Word,’ played a significant role in the conspiracy, and her sentencing is a significant blow to the organization.

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