Early 2013, detectives with Evansville/Vanderburgh Joint Task Force began an investigating into a methamphetamine drug trafficking organization, operating primarily out of Vanderburgh County, Indiana.
Through the work of detectives a number of key individuals in the organization were identified. The investigation culminated originally with a series of arrests made in and around May of 2014. In spite of those key individuals being arrested, Detectives continued working in an attempt to ensure that all involved parties were identified and that no stone was left unturned.
Subsequent to those initial arrests, detectives began receiving information indicating that a number of the individuals arrested in the May takedown had posted bond, rejoined the organization and began actively participating in the operations of the organization at a larger scale than they had previously.
Over the course of the next 6 months, detectives were able to identify a large number of the individuals involved in the drug trafficking organization and were able to effectuate arrests that had a direct impact on the supply of methamphetamine and the organizations structure.
Arrests of individuals tied to the organization were made in August, September and November, respectfully. During those arrests, approximately twenty (20) pounds of methamphetamine was seized.
Detectives received information that a principal member of the drug trafficking organization was trafficking an extremely large quantity of methamphetamine was being trafficked into Vanderburgh County. On December 25, 2014, approximately seventeen (17) pounds of methamphetamine was seized as it was making its way back to Vanderburgh County, Indiana.
In late December, 2014, Detectives received information from multiple sources that individuals involved in the operations within the organization had abducted and assaulted one (1) individual and had planned to do the same to another.
On January 6, 2015, state and federal arrest warrants were executed with the help of a multiple law enforcement agencies on several individuals.  The Federal arrests were made for methamphetamine dealing and/or trafficking related offenses. The State arrests were made for Conspiracy to Commit Murder, Attempted Murder, Criminal Confinement and Conspiracy to Commit Criminal Confinement.
Over the course of the investigation, multiple pound quantities of methamphetamine tied to this drug trafficking organization were seized on multiple occasions through the collective effort of the law enforcement agencies that have participated in this investigation.
Today marks a culmination of the diligent investigation undertaken by all involved law enforcement agencies into this methamphetamine drug trafficking organization. The arrest warrants that were judicially issued yesterday and today related to the individuals involved in the drug trafficking organization are for the following individuals…
Acting United States Attorney Josh Minkler said, “Methamphetamine has been a scourge in the Southern Indiana area for many years. My office continues the use of federal law to intervene in any way possible and help make our communities safe from meth dealers. I am very pleased with cooperation and teamwork displayed by our local law enforcement partners and the good work of Mr. Hermann and the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office.â€
State Charges:
Eva Buck – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (A)
James Ling – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (A)
Robert Robertson Jr. – Attempted Murder / Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (A)(1)
Edward Nance – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (A)
Montrako Bradley – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (A)
Joseph Wagner – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (A)
Bonnie Kay Wangler – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (B)
Eric Tanksley – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Blake Selby – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Mark Darnell – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Jamar Hooser – Attempted Murder / Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (1/2)
Amy Robertson – Attempted Murder
Jason Greenlee – Attempted Murder
Tavon Clark – Attempted Murder
Royce Calvin – Attempted Murder
Joshua Brown – Dealing in a Synthetic Cannabinoid
Meko Levels Jr. – Dealing in a Synthetic Cannabinoid
Freddie Wiggins – Possession of a Firearm by a Serious Violent Felon (4)
Michelle McGoin – Possession of a Firearm by a Felon
Allen Fox – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Roger Streete – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Michael Kline – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Stephen Kline – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Stephen Hart – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Sheila Taylor – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Nathan Robertson – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Jerald Clark Jr. – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Roy Durham Sr. – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Carolyn Sapp – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Richard Catt Jr. – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Aaron Ray – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
David Cobb – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Tony Sikes – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Chad Pate – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Troy Durham Sr. –Dealing in Methamphetamine (4)
Melanie Martin –Dealing in Methamphetamine (4)
Nick Clingerman – Conspiracy to Commit Dealing in Methamphetamine (2)
Federally indicted:
Eric Tanksley
Terrence Cosby Â
Eric Stinson
Eva Buck
Brian Tucker
Gregory Frankenberger  Â
Sean Killion
Steven Barnett
Rosario Ramirez-Ayala  Â
Marcelo Ramirez-Ayala
Brian Tucker
Sean McClain
Michelle Pippin
Jayson Hayes  Â
Jamar Hooser
Lyron Miller
Patrick Pate
James Hezel   Â
Timothy Ritzler
Michelle Pippin
Sean McClain
James Ling     Â
Sean Killion
Steven Barnett
Eva Buck
Jamar Hooser
Robert Robertson Jr.   Â
Amy Robertson
Gregory Tincher
Good Job Officers
Nice work to all involved.
A scarlet “M” tatooed on their foreheads would be appropriate !
This is an exceptionally happy occurrence !
We will need more prisons….
These drugs need to be decriminalized. The supply is gone for a short time but the demand is still there. It’s been estimated by the DEA that less than 10% of the illegal drugs coming into this country are stopped. As long as the profit and the demand is there risk takers will provide the product. I know most of you will go into denial about this but most drug users and dealers identify with the democrat party.
The vice used just depends where one is on the economical ladder of life. Ones with more disposable
income will get theirs through the pharmaceutical route. Cocaine would fall in this area as well.
All these vices have no political boundaries.
“I know most of you will go into denial about this but most drug users and dealers identify with the democrat party.”
No idea what this has to do with anything, but as far as this:
“These drugs need to be decriminalized. ”
Decriminalizing classes of drugs which have a nearly 100% untreatable addiction rate seems like a bad idea. Certain drugs are INSTANTLY addictive to the point of fatality- – you can’t really be a ‘casual’ or ‘responsible’ meth or heroin user. Doesn’t really work that way. You do the drug, and you’re addicted to it. Eventually it will kill you, or you’ll have to turn to crime to fund your habit. Period. Given that, if we make it easier to get access to the drug, it makes sense that more people might be tempted to try it, meaning we will have more people addicted to it, meaning…
Weed and booze? Not so much. The vast majority of people who use those drugs are not going to get addicted to them. Many currently illegal substances probably could be decriminalized. I personally don’t think meth is among those substances.
I stand by my post. Research and data will confirm that illicit drug use is found mostly in families that identify as democrats. Now we know who to target with early education and intervention. The recovery rate for addiction is around 3%, with meth, heroin and cocaine it is less. The incidents of alcohol addiction is the same as when it was illegal. People who try drugs have an entirely different mindset than those who actively avoid that lifestyle. Let drug users have their drugs and let nature take it’s course. Most drug users are not allowed to reach their bottom, they are rescued early by the criminal justice, get healthy, get out of jail and are ready for another bout of drug use. They leave destruction in the form of single parent/rent a parent children behind them. Most people that use drugs will tell you they were introduced to drugs by family members.
Fair enough. At least you’re consistent. As far as ‘let nature take its course” or ‘allow them to reach their bottom’ is it your intent that people who overdose should be simply allowed to die, or is EMS intervention appropriate? What about juveniles? Should rehabilitation be provided if the person is arrested for crimes which are not related to their drug use? Should infants born addicted be given care, or simply allowed to die?
I’m not rabid pub or dem, so your assertation about the background politics of the drug problem is neither here nor there as far as I’m concerned. Is your assertion (assuming it’s correct, you provide no links to any data) that people who self-identify as democrats be given preferential access to drug abuse education and treatment? I suspect that there is more than a little holier-than-though dick waving in your statement (you are a republican, I presume), but could be wrong on that.
Holier than thou dick waving!! Can I steal that?
Reaching their bottom is when they are so sick and tired of being sick and tired and they reach out for help. Some people reach their bottom very early. Most people, about 85% reach their bottom at the first DUI or contact with the criminal justice system for illicit drug use. This , to a large degree, depends on family and community and their take on alcohol and drug use. The democrats take a light view of illicit drug use, so there’s little community stigma attached to drug use. People who work, have family and community ties and a good reputation to maintain avoid drug use. This is why illicit drug use is so prevalent in the African American community, which votes 96% democrat. Maybe a drug OD is a sign of being sick and tired and deciding to check out, this is a prime time for intervention. Children born to addicted parents have a 4 fold chance of being addicted themselves, so they have already been identified as potential drug abusers. If they are put back in the chaotic drug environment their future is pretty well determined, time for adoption or foster care. The amount of money spent in Indiana for foster care is unreal. A foster parent with 3-5 children can make a pretty decent living, it’s actually an industry in itself. Have voted both ways, was a rabid democrat until 1996 and then moved to the right. I’m Ok with gays or anyone marrying who ever or whatever, I just don’t care, to me it’s not a big issue. I’m OK with abortion, it’s legal. I do believe it’s murder but it’s legal, I just don’t care. I do know this for a fact and I have friends who are social workers and psychologist who make decent money off of these people in later years. When women who have had abortions start to do a look back in their adult years and play woulda, coulda, shoulda, they get ate up with guilt and shame. Not all of them, some have underdeveloped or no conscience in which case they would probably be bad parents.
WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Drugs plus Blacks equal Democrats
Is it time for you to go outside and burn another cross?
My 8:23 pm post was for POV
Hopefully these people that just got busted will be incarcerated long enough to get help they desperately need ,,,,junkies can’t do it on their own with these powerful addictive drugs ,,,give em about 10 yrs and do 10 yrs at least
Good job EPD and DEA
POV, due respect, but you literally answered not a single question I posed in my 5:08 PM post, nor did you provide a single link to add credence to any of the statistics or assertations you posted in your original or subsequent posts. That makes it very difficult to carry on this conversation.
Not a problem.
Decriminalized or not, we are most fortunate that Natural Selection will, in time and in a continuing manner, purge our society of these defective vermin.
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