An Atlanta man attempted to smuggle more than 100 pounds of methamphetamine and heroin into Atlanta by hiding it in packaging to make it appear to be children’s candy, authorities said.
Cleveland James McKinney, 30, was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years and seven months in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Mississippi said in a news release. He and a co-conspirator were attempting to smuggle the narcotics to Atlanta from Mexico, using Mississippi as a key transfer point.
On April 16, 2018, McKinney traveled to Brandon, Miss., from Atlanta to retrieve a drug shipment that was smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico, the release said. The drugs entered the country through Brownsville, Texas.
The meth was shrink-wrapped inside bulk children’s candy packages in an effort to conceal it, the release said. In total, 41.97 kilograms (92.5 pounds) of meth and 4.5 kilograms (9.9 pounds) of heroin were hidden in the cargo.
McKinney’s job was to smuggle the drugs to Atlanta and deliver them to Evelyn Michelle Hernandez.
However, he didn’t know that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had already intercepted the shipment, replacing it with decoy packages, the release said. Shortly after he picked up those packages and began the 370-mile trek to Atlanta, he was arrested.
He pleaded guilty Nov. 21, 2019, which was two days after Hernandez pleaded guilty to her part in the scheme, the release said. She received 14 years in federal prison.
Following McKinney’s time in prison, he will have to spend five years on supervised release in addition to paying a $1,500 fine.
Homeland Security, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and the Rankin County, Miss., Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.
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