North Texas Strike Force Arrests 10 Defendants Related to Collin County Overdose Death
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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