United States Attorney Richard B. Roper
Northern District of Texas

FEDERAL JURY CONVICTS ELLIS COUNTY, TEXAS, MAN IN
METHAMPHETAMINE DISTRIBUTION CASE

DALLAS — A federal jury in U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn’s court yesterday, convicted Lee Roy Chaney, 33, on two counts of distribution of methamphetamine and aiding and abetting, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. Chaney faces a maximum statutory sentence of 60 years in prison and a $3 million fine. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Lynn in November 2007.

The charges in this case arose during a nine-month investigation into methamphetamine trafficking in the Ellis County, Texas, area. The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Mobile Enforcement Team, along with the Ellis County Sheriff’s Department, the Waxahachie Police Department, and the Ennis Police Department. In fact, another person charged as a result of this investigation, Robert Castillo, 39, of Hutchins, Texas was sentenced this week by U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis to 190 months in prison. Castillo pled guilty in March to three counts of distribution of methamphetamine.

The government presented evidence at trial that on April 12, 2006, Chaney distributed methamphetamine to a confidential source, and then again on April 18, 2006, he distributed 50 grams or more to the same confidential source. On or about April 12, 2006, the confidential source had a conversation with Chaney at an apartment complex in Red Oak, Texas. During the conversation, Chaney offered to sell methamphetamine to the confidential source. Later, Chaney, aided and abetted by other persons, distributed methamphetamine to the confidential source in exchange for $850 in a restaurant parking lot located in Glen Heights, Texas.

On April 18, 2006, at the same apartment complex in Red Oak, Texas, Chaney negotiated the sale of a quarter-pound of a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine to the confidential source in exchange for $3000. Later, Chaney, aided and abetted by other persons, distributed more than 100 grams of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine to the confidential source in exchange for $3000 in United States currency.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the DEA, the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office, and the Waxahachie and Ennis, Texas, Police Departments. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kim McCabe and Suzanna Etessam.

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