A Gwinnett County man who was serving time for methamphetamine possession and trafficking has been sentenced to 25 more years in prison after prosecutors said he was still distributing drugs while incarcerated.
A co-conspirator told authorities that Edwin Murillo, an inmate at Calhoun State Prison in Morgan, used a contraband cellphone to connect methamphetamine distributors to dealers and paid them with MoneyGram and Western Union.
The co-conspirator, identified by federal authorities as Peggy Bentley, said she talked to Murillo by phone, and he connected her with dealers.
“In exchange, Ms. Bentley paid Mr. Murillo $500 per connection or “plug”, sending the money to different places Mr. Murillo directed via MoneyGram, Western Union or Walmart money transfers,” U.S. Attorney Charles Peeler said Tuesday in a news release. “Ms. Bentley paid $8,000 per kilogram of methamphetamine purchased, profiting between $3,000 and $4,000.”
Murillo, 27, was previously sentenced in September 2015 after he was convicted of methamphetamine possession in Gwinnett County and trafficking in Hall County, according to Georgia Department of Corrections records.
Correctional officers were searching his unit on Nov. 5, 2017, and found the contraband cellphone hidden under his bunk, Peeler said. Murillo was consequently put in more restrictive housing.
Three days later, officers searched Murillo’s new unit. As the inmate was being moved to a temporary holding location, the officers saw him trying to hide an item by holding his hands in front of his pants, Peeler said.
“A pat-down uncovered an Irish Spring soap box sealed with duct tape in his pants containing 76 grams of pure methamphetamine, as well as a small amount of marijuana, tobacco and a cellphone charger,” Peeler said. When authorities downloaded the contents of Murillo’s cellphone, they found numerous text messages related to drug distributing and directing payments for drugs.
Murillo was sentenced Thursday to 300 months in federal prison on top of his state sentences set to expire in 2034.
Bentley, 48, of Watkinsville, is scheduled to be sentenced next month in Athens federal court, authorities said.
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