Broken Arrow Man Sentenced In Meth Drug Ring

NewsOn6.com

MUSKOGEE, OK -- A Broken Arrow man considered the ringleader of a major drug trafficking ring was sentenced to federal prison Thursday, August 19, according to a release from Thomas Scott Woodward, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

Jason Edgar Kort, 34, of Broken Arrow, was sentenced to 135 months in prison. Woodward said Kort was at the head of a drug ring that imported large amounts of methamphetamine into the Tulsa area from sources in Arizona and Texas.

6/24/2010 Related Story: Eight Charged In Tulsa Area Meth Conspiracy

The defendants often used commercial airlines to fly to the source of the methamphetamine and then transported the drugs back to the Tulsa area using private vehicles and passengers on commercial bus lines.

In one instance the drugs were hidden inside a pink stuffed animal.

The conspiracy was "outed" on February 27, 2010, when law enforcement officers served search warrants on a residence in Broken Arrow and one in Phoenix, Arizona. The Broken Arrow residence, where records of multiple drug transactions were found, was in the name of defendant Jason Kort.

He is the fourth defendant in the case so far to receive a sentence to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Four defendants remain to be sentenced.

Other defendants arrested in the drug ring bust are:

• Max Ray Tanner, 32, of Tulsa. Sentenced 7/15/2010 - 60 months.
• Beverly McPhedran, 32, of Phoenix. Sentenced 7/15/2010 - 51 months.
• Jason Edgar Kort, 34, of Broken Arrow. Sentenced 8/19/2010 - 135 months,
• Jean Ann Brenek, 39, of Wall, Texas. Sentenced 8/12/2010 - 24 months.
• Mark Anthony Millwood, 32, of Phoenix. Sentencing set for 9/14/2010.
• Serena Rae Archer, 38, of Springfield, Mo. Sentencing set for 9/14/2010.
• Cheryl Hopple, 58, of Phoenix. Sentencing set for 9/15/2010.
• Higinio Sahuaqui, 56, of Phoenix. Sentencing set for 9/15/2010.