Operation Vanilla Gorilla dismantled the drug distribution networks and involved the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces operation, which included the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and other state and local law enforcement agencies.
“Operation Vanilla Gorilla was an aggressive strike by law enforcement that continues to pay dividends,” said U.S. Attorney Bobby L. Christine. “More prison sentences are removing more violent criminals from our midst.”
The longest sentence levied by Southern District of Georgia Judge R. Stan Baker, however, was for a man designated as a career criminal with ties to the Tango Orejon gang, which operates largely in Texas prisons.
Andrew “Chubs” Campos, 29, of San Antonio, Texas, was sentenced to 19 years and seven months in prison after he pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Federal investigators say Campos conspired with others, including affiliates of the Ghost Face Gangsters, to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine in the Savannah, Ga. area.
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Christine said designated career criminals “plague law-abiding citizens, and we as prosecutors continue to work relentlessly to sweep them from our streets.”
The multi-jurisdictional operation also resulted in prison sentences for:
• Rodney Rose, 39, of Hamilton, was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
• Brandon Chapman, 26, of Savannah, Ga., was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and 10 years months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
• Cody Eubanks, 27, of Pembroke, Ga., was sentenced to 7-1/2 years in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine; and,
• Christopher Hendrix, 40, Savannah, Ga., was sentenced to six years in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Hendrix was a leader of the Ghost Face Gangsters.
All the defendants sentenced were on probation or parole when they committed the offenses. The federal sentences will begin after the completion of their state sentences for violating probation or parole.
There is no parole in the federal system.
The five defendants had a combined of more than 50 state criminal convictions, including at least 18 felony convictions, and more than 15 prior probation or parole violations.
“There are some who think joining a gang or gang life is cool; I can assure you it’s not,” said Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team Director Everett Ragan. “Hopefully these individuals will use their time in federal prison to reflect on their poor decisions.”
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