Monroe, N.C. Methamphetamine Trafficker Pleads Guilty

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Larry Allen Elkins, Jr., 31, of Monroe, N.C. appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler yesterday and pleaded guilty to methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced R. Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

According to filed court documents and court proceedings, Elkins was part of a narcotics distribution network operating in Union and Mecklenburg Counties and elsewhere.   To date, more than 14 individuals have been indicted on federal charges in connection with this investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).  The Union County Sheriff’s Office, the Monroe Police Department, the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice, the FBI and ATF, are among the law enforcement agencies which are task force members. 

OCDETF is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.

Those who have been charged federally or have pleaded guilty to federal charges as part of this OCDETF investigation are:

    Jason Albert Frankenberg, 41, of Matthews, N.C.

    Isaac Patton Brown, 46, of Charlotte.

    Johnathan Mitchell Goodwin, 36, of Wadesboro, N.C.

    Elizabeth Lorraine Lewis, 28, of Pinnacle, N.C.

    Nestor Martin Fernandez, 38, of Charlotte.

    Emilio Mejia, 28, of Charlotte.

    Rodolfo Medina, 47, of Charlotte.

    Jose Javier Reyes, 19, of Charlotte.

    Mauco Contreras, 21, of Charlotte.

    Kevin Eliezer Velasquez Melendez, 18, of Concord, N.C.

    Alejandro Jose Lopez Ceballos, 20, of Charlotte.

    Martha Olivia Placencia Beltran, 48, of Charlotte.

    Edgar Jesus Magana, 24, of Charlotte.

    Brandy Nicole Short, 34, of Gastonia, N.C.

According to filed court documents and court proceedings filed in Elkins’s case and related cases, the defendants are part of a drug network responsible for trafficking large amounts of methamphetamine and heroin in North Carolina, including in Union County. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized more than five kilograms of methamphetamine, numerous firearms, and cash drug proceeds.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Dillon and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Lindahl of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte are in charge of the prosecution.