HSI Waco, multiagency investigation results in indictments of 8 people for drug and gun charges

WACO, Texas — A group of eight Texas men were indicted in Waco on criminal charges related to their alleged drug and gun activity. This case is being investigated by members of the Texas Anti-Gang Task Force, including the FBI; Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the Waco Police Department; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Texas Department of Public Safety; the McLennan County Sherriff’s Department and the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office.

A federal grand jury returned indictments for Jeremiah Pittman, 21; Shamall McDonald, 21; Juan Christian Rodriguez-Luhan, 20; Raeshawn Demond Roberts, 21; Jacob Deshaun Raglin, 24; Javion Lavelle Cooper, 19; Tyson Charae Hawthorne, 21; and Dantawn Richardson, 20, all charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Raglin was arrested in Arlington on Oct. 17, and Richardson was already in Waco Police custody on unrelated charges. The remaining defendants were arrested in Waco. During the arrests, law enforcement officers recovered four firearms, 13 ounces of methamphetamine and more than 4 pounds of marijuana.

If convicted, each of the eight defendants faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the marijuana charge and a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison consecutive to other prison terms for the firearm charge. A federal district court judge will determine their sentences after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Jaime Esparza made the announcement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Christopher Blanton is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime. The Texas Anti-Gang Task Force is a group of law enforcement agencies and prosecutors focused on reducing gang violence and dismantling gangs in the Central Texas area.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’ largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.