Six Plead Guilty to Methamphetamine Trafficking Ring in the Upstate

SPARTANBURG, S.C —Six individuals in the Upstate have pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine.

The following defendants entered guilty pleas in federal court:

Jonathan Sarratt, 38, of Gaffney

Christopher Biggerstaff, 41, of Chester. Biggerstaff also pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Mikenzi Walker, 25, of Gaffney

Sondra Walker, 66, of Gaffney

Aa’lyah Tukes, 29, of Anderson

Brenda Mincey, 34, of Shelby, N.C.

Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that since at least early 2023, Jonathan Sarratt, while incarcerated in the South Carolina Department of Corrections, was facilitating supplying the ring with at least 250 kilograms of methamphetamine for distribution in the Upstate. Mikenzi Walker, Christopher Biggerstaff, and Brenda Mincey distributed the methamphetamine. In July of 2023, Mincey was arrested with approximately 390 grams of methamphetamine and approximately 100 blue pills containing fentanyl she obtained from co-defendants. Biggerstaff was arrested in January 2024, with three loaded handguns and ounce quantities of methamphetamine. Both Sondra Walker and Aa’lyah Tukes moved methamphetamine into their residences for distribution during the conspiracy. Law enforcement seized $150,000 in drug proceeds from Tukes during the takedown operation in this case.

Sarratt and Biggerstaff face a maximum of life in federal prison and a $10,000,000 fine. Sondra Walker, Mikenzi Walker, Tukes, and Mincey face up to 20 years in federal prison and a $1,000,000 fine. Biggerstaff faces an additional five years consecutive to any sentence he receives due to his firearms charge. All defendants face a maximum of lifetime supervision.

United States District Judge Donald C. Coggins, Jr., accepted the guilty pleas and will sentence the defendants after receiving and reviewing a sentencing report prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, and Greenville Drug Enforcement Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Lea Schoen is prosecuting the case.

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