Sentencing is expected to commence next week in Greenville.
The proposed sentences ranges are contained in a memorandum of sentencing filed in the federal court record.

Statement

“The defendant’s criminal activity in this case was protracted, egregious, and corrosive to the integrity of multiple law enforcement agencies in North Carolina and Virginia,” Brice wrote in the memorandum. “In time, the conspiracy grew to include 15 members representing four different law enforcement and correctional organizations. Such extended, multi-year criminal activity by law enforcement officers damages the integrity of the organizations they claim to serve and undermines public confidence in law enforcement and the justice system.”
The proposed sentences within the guidelines ranges for all of the defendants in this case would reflect the serious and pervasive nature of the corruption that the defendants perpetrated; promote respect for the law; and deter future public corruption in the Eastern District of North Carolina, Brice wrote. “Furthermore, because the defendants’ guidelines ranges reflect their relative culpability in the course of the investigation, sentencing all of them within their ranges would ensure that there are no unwarranted sentencing disparities.”

The recommendations with Brice’s comments are as follows:

Lann Tjuan Clanton

“A sentence of custodial sentence between 135 and 168 months is entirely appropriate for Clanton, the first defendant in Operation Rockfish and the corrupt root from which the rest of the conspiracy grew. This range takes into account the nature of Clanton’s offenses, including his criminal activity preceding the investigation, his armed robbery of a purported drug courier, his recruitment of co-conspirators with the full knowledge that he was spreading corruption throughout law enforcement agencies, and his greedy acceptance of thousands of dollars in bribes.”

Ikeisha Jacobs

“In light of Jacobs’ mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, the government respectfully recommends a custodial sentence of 120 months for Jacobs. Such a sentence would appropriately reflect Jacobs’ extended criminal activity, her role as co-leader of the criminal scheme, and her decision, as a sworn law enforcement officer, to betray her oath repeatedly in exchange for cash bribes, a trip to Miami, and a Rolex watch. It would also recognize Jacobs’ admissions to undercover agents that she had been involved in other illegal drug activity with a different, and presumably real, DTO, as well as her requests to buy bulk cocaine so that she could resell it.”

Jason Boone

“A custodial sentence between 108 to 135 months would justly punish Boone’s consistent and extended participation in what he believed to be drug trafficking, his recruitment of other law enforcement officials, his decision to carry a firearm, and his acceptance, as a sworn law enforcement officer, of bribes.”

Adrienne Moody

“The government respectfully recommends a custodial sentence between 97 and 121 months for Moody. Such a sentence would account for Moody’s extended personal involvement in trafficking what she believed were drugs; her successful recruitment of other co-conspirators to form “Team Two”; and her request to purchase large kilogram amounts of cocaine to sell herself.”

Cory Jackson

“A custodial sentence within the range of 108 to 135 months would be appropriate for Jackson, as it would properly reflect his repeated participation in drug trafficking and his active role in furthering the organization, both through advice to co-conspirators and through his recruitment efforts, which successfully brought two sworn law enforcement officers into the trafficking organization.”

Jimmy Pair

A guideline imprisonment range of 87 to 108 months.
“The government respectfully recommends a custodial sentence for Pair within this guideline range. Such a sentence would take into account the fact that as a sworn law enforcement officer, Pair abused his position of trust repeatedly when he acted as an armed guard for drug shipments, and when he recruited another member into the organization.”

Curtis Boone

“A custodial sentence within the range of 87 to 108 months is appropriate for Boone. Such a sentence would recognize the disparity between the oath that Boone took as a sworn law enforcement officer and his actions, which included meeting purported drug traffickers while working in uniform at a high school campus, and bringing his firearm with him for trafficking activities.”

Thomas Jefferson Allen

An imprisonment range of 87 to 108 months.
“The government respectfully recommends a sentence within this guidelines range for Allen, who exhibited eagerness to improve and expand the drug trafficking organization’s operations, and help it avoid detection. Allen also tried unsuccessfully to recruit an additional law enforcement officer to join the organization.”

Alaina Sue-Kam-Ling

“For her repeated assistance to the drug trafficking organization, and her acceptance of a firearm from co-conspirator Antonio Tillmon, the government respectfully recommends a sentence with the 57-71 month guidelines range for Sue-Kam-Ling.”

Kavon Phillips

Imprisonment range of 57 to 71 months.
“A sentence within this guidelines range is appropriate for Phillips, who participated in three operations with the trafficking organization and returned for a fourth on the day he was arrested with a semi-automatic handgun.”

Alphonso Ponton

Imprisonment range of 51 to 71 months.
“The government respectfully recommends a sentence within this guidelines range for Ponton, who participated in two operations and tried unsuccessfully to recruit another law enforcement officer.”

Tohsa Dailey

Imprisonment range of 46 to 57 months.
“A custodial sentence within this range is appropriate for Dailey. Although she was not a law enforcement official, Dailey used her position as a 911 dispatch operator to provide the DTO with information from law enforcement databases. She also had a semi-automatic pistol with her on the date of her arrest.”

Crystal Pierce

Imprisonment range of 12 to 18 months.
“The government respectfully recommends a custodial sentence for Pierce within this guidelines range. Although she was not a correctional officer, Pierce presented herself to the undercover agents as one, and participated repeatedly in trafficking operations involving sham drugs.”

Conclusion

“The defendants in this case not only violated the public trust; they worked together to exploit that trust and to gain personally at the expense of public safety and the rule of law. Such grave offenses call for proportional punishment. Sentences of imprisonment within the defendants’ guideline ranges will constitute just punishment and will deter future public corruption in the Eastern District of North Carolina,” Brice wrote.