Five Defendants Appear in Federal Court on Drugs and Firearms Charges After Police Seize in Excess of 26 Pounds of Methamphetamine and Five Firearms

Contact Person: Beth Drake (803) 929-3000

Columbia, South Carolina ----- United States Attorney William N. Nettles announced today that a federal magistrate judge arraigned Rory Severin, age 45, William Scott Powell, age 40, Chad Edward Moore, age 42, Marie Higgins, age 36, and Angel Miranda Luna, age 24, on federal narcotics and firearms charges.

A federal grand jury has charged these individuals with conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute and to distribute in excess of 500 grams of a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine.  Chad Edward Moore also has been charged with felon in possession of a firearm, and Powell, Moore, Higgins, and Miranda Luna have been charged with possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking charge.

The investigation culminated on two dates: April 22, 2014, and May 5, 2014.  On April 22, 2014, law enforcement officers arrested Severin, Powell, Moore, and Higgins, and seized in excess of two pounds of methamphetamine and four firearms.  On May 5, 2014, law enforcement officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle which Luna Miranda was driving in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.  After arresting Luna Miranda, officers seized approximately 26 pounds of methamphetamine, $90,000 in cash, and a firearm Luna Miranda was using in his residence to protect the drugs and drug proceeds.

If convicted on the charges in the indictment, the defendants face 10 years to life imprisonment.  The Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations, the Douglasville, Georgia, Police Department, the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.  Andy Moorman with the U.S. Attorney=s Office will be prosecuting.