Admitted “ice” dealer will spend more than 17 years in prison
WAYCROSS, GA: An admitted methamphetamine trafficker and criminal street gang member has been sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison.
Christopher Wells, a/k/a “Jugg,” 32, of Waycross, was sentenced to 210 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and to Distribute 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, said Bobby L. Christine, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. After completion of his prison term, Wells will be required to serve five years of supervised release.
There is no parole in the federal system.
“Christopher Wells has been involved in criminal activity for his entire adult life, and despite ample, multiple opportunities to walk away from crime, he chose to immerse himself in a violent, lawless lifestyle,” said U.S. Attorney Christine. “While he’s locked away to protect society, he’ll have more than a decade to rethink his illegal choices and criminal associates.”
A leader in the “G-Shine” sect of the notorious Bloods criminal street gang, Wells was arrested in August 2017 as part of an FBI operation targeting a methamphetamine-trafficking operation in the Waycross area and beyond. He was named in a 47-count indictment in 2017 along with 34 other defendants targeted in the wide-ranging operation. Two of the defendants are awaiting sentencing; the remaining defendants all pled guilty, and have been sentenced to an average of 88 months in prison.
Wells’ criminal record started at age 15 and includes at least 25 arrests, with eight felony convictions as an adult.
“Waycross citizens are safer with Wells off the streets,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Unfortunately he decided, after many opportunities, not to turn his life around. He now has 17 years in federal prison to think that over once again.”
The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), the premier U.S. Department of Justice program to dismantle multi-jurisdictional drug trafficking organizations. It was investigated by the FBI, the Coastal Georgia Violent Gang Task Force, the Ware County Sheriff’s Office, the Waycross Police Department, the Glynn County Police Department, and the Brunswick Police Department, and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney and OCDETF Coordinator Marcela C. Mateo and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kirkland.
