A Crowder woman became the final defendant to be sentenced in a large-scale drug trafficking case.
Linda Hunt, 49, previously pled guilty to distribution of methamphetamine in federal court in North Mississippi. On Tuesday, she was sentenced to 23 years in prison with an additional five years of supervised release.
Hunt oversaw the drug trafficking ring that was busted in an investigation that spanned nearly three years and involved 12 different local, state, and federal agencies. The organization primarily operated in north Mississippi, although its reach spread to surrounding states.
19 other defendants were convicted and sentenced before Hunt in the lengthy case. Every defendant received at least 18 months in prison, with Hunt’s sentence being the most severe.
“Criminal actions have consequences, and the sentences handed down to this trafficking organization demonstrate that the full force of the law will be employed to bring those consequences to drug dealers who introduce poison into our communities,” U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner said. “Our federal and state law enforcement partners worked together seamlessly to bring down this organization, and the efforts of AUSA Clyde McGee to lead the prosecution of these defendants were exceptional as well.”
This investigation and resulting case were part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces operation. The operation identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.
