Tulsa Narcotics, Corruption Investigation Ends

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- United States Attorney David E. O'Meilia says a prison sentence handed out in federal court brings a close to a multi-agency investigation that spanned four years and is related to the investigation and prosecution of at least 25 other individuals.

Kejuan Lavell Daniels, 35, of Tulsa, was sentenced Tuesday to 121 months in prison for a narcotics conspiracy.

Officials say Daniels admitted between December 2002 until sometime in 2006 he had entered into agreements with others to import and distribute in excess of five kilograms of cocaine and in excess of 50 grams of crack cocaine.

According to the plea agreement, the total sum of cocaine that was distributed in the Tulsa area was in excess of 220 pounds. In addition to the prison sentence, Daniels was assessed a $5,000 fine and will serve a five year period of supervision after his release.

The original investigation began in December 2004 as a narcotics matter, but U.S. Attorney O'Meilia says it was discovered that Daniels and his organization had cultivated individuals within local law enforcement to obtain sensitive information in order to protect his drug trafficking activities and to avoid detection and apprehension.

U.S. Attorney O'Meilia says the resulting public corruption investigation resulted in the convictions of former Tulsa police officer and detective Rico Yarbrough, former Tulsa police records clerk, DeShon Stanley, and her mother, Diana Brice.

Another branch of the investigation ultimately led to the investigation, prosecution and conviction of a number of individuals on income tax fraud to include a Tulsa tax preparer.
U.S. Attorney O'Meilia says investigators utilized three court authorized wiretaps during the probe of Daniel's organization which resulted in the interception of more than 40,000 telephone calls and text messages in about three months.

The law enforcement effort was spearheaded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, which included agents from the FBI, DEA, IRS Criminal Intelligence Division, and Task Force Officers from the Tulsa Police Department Special Investigations Division.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert T. Raley and Joseph F. Wilson were involved in coordinating the Task Force investigation and handled the prosecution of the case against defendant Kejuan Daniels.

"The Northern District of Oklahoma Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force will relentlessly identify, pursue, disrupt and dismantle large drug trafficking organizations," said U.S. Attorney O'Meilia. "We will insure that the drug traffickers, as well as their sources of supply and anyone who furthers the enterprise, are investigated, prosecuted, and that their ill-gotten profits and property are taken away and forfeited to the government.

"The investigation and prosecution of the high-level members of this significant cocaine trafficking endeavor and the corrupt public servants that assisted them is just part of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies' continuing coordinated efforts to make our communities in northeast Oklahoma safer by combating the distribution of illegal drugs."