Six individuals, including one Pearland resident, have been taken into custody following the return of an indictment alleging conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced Tuesday.
The two-count indictment, returned under seal April 3, was partially unsealed per the arrests of Lewis Charles Hawkins, 39, and Jarriette Eurk Hawkins, 35, both of Houston; Demetrice Quarles, 41, of Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Marcus Dejuan Colbert, 35, of Pearland and Morris Alexander Wise, 32, of Maywood, Ill., Christopher Knox, 49, of Hopkinsville, Ky., is already in state custody in Louisiana on related charges and is expected to be transferred to federal custody to answer to these charges in the near future. The indictment remains sealed as to those charged but not as yet in custody.
All are charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine from Jan. 1, 2011, to the date of their arrest. Jarriette, Hawkins and Wise are also charged with possession with the intent to distribute cocaine on Sept. 15, 2011.
Both counts carry a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life in federal prison in addition to a possible $10 million fine.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ted Imperato.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence.
Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until convicted through due process of law.
It needs to be changed to guilty until proven innocent. If you are locked up or charge with something it immediately goes on your record therefore you can say goodbye to your job and say hello to your life as a felon until your day in court and if you're presumed innocent you may be able to clear your name and start replacing your life but in places like Alabama there's no such thing as expungement so all the alleged criminal activity and court rulings etc. remains on your record. It's clear that in this country you get treated as being guilty and if you happened to be innocent it doesn't matter until you are judged and no matter if you are found innocent your life never goes back to being the way it was. Justice rarely happens
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