Another federal conviction was made last week in Operation Burnout, an effort by the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Attorney’s Office to target large scale drug dealers.
United States Attorney George E.B. Holding announced in a press release that on Oct. 23, Angelo Wayne Patterson, 33, of Roanoke Rapids, was sentenced by United States District Judge James C. Dever III to 132 months in federal prison for distributing 50 grams or more of crack cocaine on Dec. 23, 2008. He has been in federal custody since his arrest on Jan. 14. On July 6 Patterson pled guilty to distributing 50 grams or more of crack cocaine.
The investigation, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the narcotics unit of the sheriff’s office, showed Patterson was distributing cocaine powder and crack cocaine with numerous others since as early as 2003. “Patterson was held accountable for obtaining and/or distributing approximately 240 grams of crack cocaine and more than 3 kilograms of cocaine powder,” the press release said.
He was arrested after selling 53.9 grams of crack cocaine in exchange for $2,000 on Dec. 18, 2008, and 57.8 grams of crack cocaine in exchange for another $2,000 on Dec. 23, 2008. “At the time of his arrest, just weeks after these sells, Patterson was in possession of a loaded .45-caliber firearm and $3,497,” according to the press release.
Operation Burnout is an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force operation being conducted by the FBI and sheriff’s office, targeting multilevel distributors of cocaine, crack and marijuana in and around Halifax County. To date, 20 people have been arrested on federal drug charges as part of this investigation and 19 are currently in federal custody.
Holding said in the press release, “The investigators assigned to this OCDETF case have done a tremendous job and we are grateful for their hard work in removing drug traffickers from the Halifax County community. We know there is more work to be done and we intend on continuing to partner with these agencies in our effort to dismantle the drug distribution network operating in and around Halifax County.”
Major Bruce Temple of the sheriff’s office told The Spin today, “The sheriff has committed the office to enforcing and identifying the largest scale drug dealers and drug traffickers and to commit the resources to enforce the laws.”
Temple said the best way “to make an impact is utilizing the federal system.”
He said, “All of the targets are in fact large scale dealers. At times law enforcement is criticized for not being able to do enough with that size dealer. There was a lot of hard work on the agents’ part and commitment from the sheriff to address that. It was an absolute commitment from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI in addressing Halifax County’s needs.”
