Madison Man Sentenced to 6 Years for Cocaine Conspiracy

MADISON, WIS. - Scott C. Blader, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Jamal Jackson, 40, Madison, Wisconsin, was sentenced on August 21 by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to six years in prison for conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.  Jackson pleaded guilty to this charge on June 11, 2019.

Jackson was charged along with 11 other individuals for participating in a cocaine distribution scheme.  The investigation revealed that Gregory Smith was mailing packages containing cocaine from Houston, Texas, to Joseph Harper in Madison.  In total, postal records from November 2017 to November 2018 showed 32 packages mailed from Smith to addresses in Wisconsin or Iowa associated with Harper.  Based on witness statements and multiple cocaine seizures in the case, agents learned that each of the packages contained between a half kilogram and one kilogram of cocaine.

Intercepted communications during the investigation revealed that Jackson was a highly trusted confidant of Harper and also a frequent cocaine customer.  Surveillance showed that Jackson regularly visited Harper at his cocaine stash house in Madison after the arrival of a suspected cocaine package.  On September 21, 2018, Jackson bought two ounces of cocaine from Harper at the cocaine stash house and led police on a high speed chase through the eastside of Madison when they attempted to pull him over.   In addition, Jackson and Harper had a long telephone conversation about kilogram prices for cocaine and how they could make money working together.

In imposing the sentence, Judge Conley noted that Jackson had multiple prior felony convictions for cocaine trafficking.  In addition to Smith, Harper, and Jackson, eight other defendants have pleaded guilty in the case.  Earlier this month, Judge Conley sentenced Harper to 12 years in prison and Smith to 11 years in prison for their roles in the conspiracy.  

The charge against Jackson is the result of a joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Dane County Sheriff’s Office.  The investigation was conducted and funded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a multi-agency task force that coordinates long-term narcotics trafficking investigations.  The prosecution of the case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wegner.