One of the six persons indicted by the US Department of Justice in connection with a cocaine distribution probe is an Alabama state trooper.
Indictments against the following defendants were returned by a federal grand jury in Montgomery:
- Montgomery resident Jim Carter Jr., 57
- Texas resident Francisco Lopez, 38
- Maria Beatriz Palomo-De Lopez, a 40-year-old citizen of Mexico
- 63-year-old Saundra S. Curry, of Deatsville
- 37-year-old Bryce Johnson of Union Springs
- Montgomery-born Michael Anthony Evans, 52, is an Alabama state trooper
The six are accused of planning to distribute cocaine together. Additionally accused with having cocaine with the intention of distributing it are Jim Carter, Lopez, and Palomo-De Lopez.
Palomo-De Lopez was deported in 2013, but the indictment also claims that she entered the country illegally again.
The conspiracy, according to U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Ross, started at an unspecified time and ran at least until June 10, 2024. Additionally, Carter and Lopez are accused in the indictment of being in charge of at least five kilograms of the cocaine used in the conspiracy.
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It was unclear what Evans’ purported function was.
Because of the quantity of cocaine involved, the Justice Department said that Carter and Lopez could get sentences ranging from 10 years to life in prison. Sentences for the remaining defendants could last up to 20 years.
Evans was a senior trooper, and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency claims that he was placed on mandatory leave right away after his arrest.
