ATLANTA – Seven Georgians have been indicted in federal court for allegedly conspiring to ship thousands of parcels containing fentanyl and methamphetamine across the country using a dark web vendor account.
While the indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Athens more than a month ago, two of the defendants weren’t arraigned until last week. Myron Ned Stodghill, 31, of Fairburn, and Jabari Ayinde Cooper, 29, of Atlanta, and the other five defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine and face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The other defendants are Steven Ehizojie Oboite, 32, of Conyers; Eric Xavier Bechet, 31, of Dunwoody; Rashad Cortese Kinloch, 28, of Dunwoody; Reginald Tyrone Douglas, 31, of Dunwoody; and Joshua Jamal Charles, 25, of Atlanta.
Search warrants executed on May 19 at various locations in metro Atlanta turned up about 5 kilograms of fentanyl-based powder, about 1 kilo of cocaine, several pounds of marijuana, about 200 pills, six firearms, a Jeep Wrangler, and a Tesla Model S.
The indictment alleges that a dark web vendor controlled by Oboite and Bechet called WallStreetBets began distributing large quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other controlled substances. They shipped parcels of the illegal drugs from Georgia to many locations within the United States, reporting 2,777 sales on the “Previous Vendor Feedback” section of a dark web market.
The packages shared common characteristics like padded or bubble-wrap lined mailing envelopes, prepaid shipping labels generated by a third-party postage provider that accepted cryptocurrency as payment. The sender’s name was a business that did not exist, and the return address was a seemingly random single-family residence or apartment complex in Georgia.
The packages typically contained pieces of candy in addition to the controlled substances.
The FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating the case with assistance from the IRS, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Athens-Clarke County Police.