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Fifth member of local drug conspiracy sentenced to 20 years in prison

Posted at 8:12 PM, Feb 14, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-14 20:14:33-05

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Newport News man was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

Court documents say that 37-year-old Marcus Davis was an associate of Marvin O’Neal Carter, the former leader of a large-scale cocaine trafficking conspiracy. Carter was sentenced to 27 years in prison on November 2, 2017.

Davis is said to have sold heroin from Carter’s 39th Street garage and to have helped Carter conceal the delivery of 54 kilograms of cocaine on October 20, 2016. He also obstructed the federal drug investigation by writing a letter to an uncharged member of the conspiracy after Davis met with federal agents in May 2017.

Carter, 50, along with 42-year-old Michael Stephen Kuna of Canada and California brothers Hilario Rodriguez, 50, and Daniel Rodriguez, 49, were charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, possession with intent to distributed heroin, possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime and maintaining a drug-involved premises.

The court documents said that agents observed the arrival of a tractor trailer at a garage leased by Carter. The four men allegedly worked together to unload cocaine from hidden compartments located underneath the trailer.

Shortly thereafter, Kuna was observed loading two large duffel bags into a vehicle before leaving the area before being stopped by law enforcement agents in a traffic stop. The police located the two duffel bags because they smelled like wet currency.

According to the court documents, agents executed two federal search warrants on the garage and trailer, where they found approximately 54 kilograms of cocaine and 100 bundles of cash in $5,000 to $10,000 stacks.

The search of the garage also led to the recovery of a firearm and a quantity of heroin, in addition to approximately $42,000 in cash from a safe.

Below is a list of the sentences of each member of the conspiracy:

  • Marcus Davis – sentenced on February 14, 2018; total sentence: 240 months
  • Marvin Carter – sentenced on November 7, 2017; total sentence: 324 months
  • Michael Kuna – sentenced on October 19, 2017; total sentence: 144 months
  • Daniel Rodriguez – sentenced on July 20, 2017; total sentence: 120 months
  • Hilario Rodriguez – sentenced on July 12, 2017; total sentence: 162 months

Related:

Man sentenced in Newport News-to-California cocaine trafficking conspiracy

Newport News drug bust recovers 119 pounds of cocaine and stacks of cash, four indicted