United States Attorney Thomas Scott Woodward announced a guilty plea today in a major marijuana trafficking operation from Phoenix,Arizona,to Detroit, Michigan, utilizing interstate highways running through Oklahoma.

Kelly Maurice Hill, aka “Shannon Dorr,” 21, of Detroit, Michigan, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy To Possess with intent to Distribute and Distribution of over 100 Kilograms of Marijuana. A criminal drug trafficking organization led by Hill, was responsible for the importation of large amounts of marijuana in hundreds of pounds and kilogram quantities, from sources in Phoenix into the Detroit area, between November 2008 and December 2009. The defendant recruited drug couriers, often called “mules,” to transport marijuana and large amounts of cash in rental vehicles, commercial buses and airlines. The conspiracy first came to the attention of law enforcement in Oklahoma on March 5, 2009, when two of the alleged couriers were stopped by an OHP trooper on I-44 near Stroud, Oklahoma, and a subsequent search of the 2008 Chrysler minivan yielded $198,980 in cash. In other instances the organization transported large loads of marijuana hidden under furniture and even Christmas presents inside rental vans and trucks. The indictment listed multiple marijuana shipments, including a 177 pound load of marijuana that was interdicted by law enforcement officers in Michigan on December 22, 2009. Another load of 565 pounds of marijuana was brought through Oklahoma on the Turner turnpike in a rental van in June 2009, resulting in the arrest and federal prosecution of two alleged members of Hill’s drug trafficking organization. One of the defendant’s in that case was later found shot to death in the Detroit area.
Hill’s sentencing date is set for June 6, 2011. He faces a prison term of not less than 5 years and not more 40 years and a fine of up to $2 million.

The prosecution of the case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert T. Raley. The lengthy and far-ranging investigation was conducted by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) of the Northern District of Oklahoma. Law enforcement agencies participating in this continuing investigation are the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Tulsa Resident Office, DEA Detroit Resident Office, Michigan State Police, Ecorse, Michigan Police Department, River Rouge, Michigan Police Department, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Wayne County Michigan Sheriff’s Office, local Federal Task Force Officers including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and a Litigation Financial Analyst from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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