Former Lafayette County resident named as one



Taken from the press release from the Office of the United States Attorney Middle District of Florida.



U. S. Attorney Paul I. Perez has announced the unsealing of a federal indictment of 12 people charged with bringing 2,200 kilograms of cocaine valued at between $33 and $48.4 million into the Naples/Ft. Myers area of Southwest Florida., said Steve Cole, public affairs specialist with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.



Among those indicted and arrested March 26 was Edward “Eddie” Barnhill, Jr., 27, who federal officials list as a resident of St. James.



Federal, state and local law enforcement officials began arresting those indicted, officials in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa said, March 26.



Although listed as a resident of St. James, Barnhill is currently and has been a registered voter in Lafayette County since 1993. He is a graduate of Lafayette High School.

Barnhill had no comment April 9.



Also arrested were Robert Weeks, 55, of Bokeelia; Forest Weeks, 54, of Bokeelia; Darrel Taylor, 56, of Naples; Michael Richardson, 57, of Naples; Eliceo Tirado, 40, of Immokalee; Nevin McLeran, 37, of Naples; Freddy Flint, 52, of Bokeelia; Ferrell Keith Hall, 50, of Old Town; Richard Rolland, Jr., 58, of Jupiter, and John Faison, 57, of Hollywood.



They are charged with conspiracy to import and importation of cocaine, conspiracy to possess and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. If convicted, they face a range of imprisonment from 10 years to life on each of the four counts.



The arrests were the result of a continuing investigation that began with the arrest of Jimmie Byrd, 59, of Homosassa, in December 2002, after he allegedly drove to a boat ramp near Marco in July 2001, to meet two boats containing cocaine. The boats came from Columbia, investigators believe. The cocaine was brought to the Collier Boulevard public boat ramp north of Marco Island, where it was unloaded, said Jim Preston, Assistant U.S. Attorney in the agency’s Organized crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.



After Byrd’s arrest, investigators say they expanded the investigation into possible connections of others with Byrd. The result was the 12-person indictment.



This investigation is part of Operation Panama Express, which is a joint effort between the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. Customs Service, The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Marshals Service, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, Collier County Sheriff’s Office, Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).



This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States attorney Jim Preston of organized crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) in the Middle District of Florida.



An indictment is a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty, according to Preston.