SHERMAN, Texas - U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown announced today that 10
individuals have been arrested following a lengthy investigation into drug
trafficking in the Eastern District of Texas.
On Oct.
30, 2019, a combined task force of federal, state and local law enforcement
executed federal arrest warrants as the result of an Organized Crime Drug
Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Strike Force investigation in the North Texas
Area. The investigation came about as a
result of a Fairview, Texas overdose death in December, 2018.
The defendants are charged in the seven-count indictment
with possession with intent to distribute and distribution of controlled
substances resulting in death and aiding and abetting; conspiracy to distribute
and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance; accessory
after the fact; misprision of a felony; possession with intent to distribute
and distribution of controlled substances and aiding and abetting; possession
of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; possession of a
firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and possession of a firearm
in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Those arrested and named in the indictment are:
Gary Collin Bussell, 50, of Dallas;
Ben Westin, 28, of Carrollton, Texas;
Scott Perras, 27, of McKinney, Texas;
Frank Eric Dockery, 45, of Blue Ridge, Texas;
William Grant Allbrook, 32, of The Colony, Texas;
Austin Seymour, 24, of Dallas;
Lisa Young, 32, of Dallas;
George Wagner, III, 46, of Garland, Texas;
Gina Corwin, 51, of Dallas; and
Todd Shewmake, 34, of McKinney, Texas.
The defendants made initial appearances last week.
This prosecution was brought as a part of the Department of
Justice’s OCDETF Co-located Strike Forces Initiative, which provides for the
establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side
in the same location. This co-located
model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on
intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations against a continuum of
priority targets and their affiliate illicit financial networks. These prosecutor-led co-located Strike Forces
capitalize on the synergy created through the long-term relationships that can
be forged by agents, analysts, and prosecutors who remain together over time,
and they epitomize the model that has proven most effective in combating
organized crime. The specific mission of
the North Texas Strike Force is to target the region’s largest threats, with
particular emphasis on heroin and synthetic opioids trafficking.
OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive,
multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations
and is the keystone of the Department of Justice’s drug reduction
strategy. Today, OCDETF combines the
resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with
state and local law enforcement. The
principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle
the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal
organizations, and money laundering organizations that present a significant
threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United
States.
This case is being investigated by the North Texas Strike
Force. Strike Force members are the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation; U.S.
Marshals Service; U.S. Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations
Division; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Dallas Police Department; Garland
Police Department; Grand Prairie Police Department; Grapevine Police
Department; Lancaster Police Department; Plano Police Department; Sherman
Police Department; and Texas Department of Public Safety. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant
U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.
An indictment is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent until
proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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