Rodney Dwayne Brendle, Methamphetamine Trafficking, Georgia 2022

A jury has convicted Rodney Dwayne Brendle, a 40-year-old man from North Carolina, of two methamphetamine trafficking charges in a federal court in Atlanta, Georgia.

The conviction stems from a 2019 incident where Brendle and his co-defendants traveled from North Carolina to Lilburn, Georgia, to purchase a large amount of methamphetamine.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Brendle and his co-defendants were arrested by Georgia State Patrol officers working in conjunction with the DEA after they departed the parking lot of a store in Lilburn.

Brendle was indicted by a federal grand jury on August 27, 2019, on one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

He was already on probation at that time as a result of a state court felony guilty plea for possession of methamphetamine in North Carolina.

While on pretrial supervision awaiting the start of his trial, Brendle removed a geolocation ankle monitor and became a fugitive from justice. He was later arrested in Oregon and returned to the Northern District of Georgia to stand trial.

Following a five-day trial, a jury returned guilty verdicts on both counts of the indictment on October 12, 2022. Brendle’s sentencing hearing is scheduled before U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg in January 2023.

The charges against the co-defendants have also been resolved. James Kristoffer Cantley, 40, of Newton, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and was sentenced to 10 years, one month in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release.

Adam Shane Henderson, 47, of Hickory, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and is awaiting sentencing.

Alexis Figueroa-Lozano, 23, of Doraville, Georgia, pleaded guilty to trafficking in illegal drugs and was sentenced to 15 years of confinement in Georgia state court.