ICE HSI investigation leads to 13-year prison sentencing

NASHVILLE — As a result of pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of actual methamphetamine, Charles Phelps, 36, currently of Nashville, Tennessee, was sentenced on Monday to serve 156 months in federal prison.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) led this joint investigation which spanned the country and involved multiple local and federal agencies working together to identify persons involved.

According to his plea agreement, Phelps, a member of a prison gang led by co-defendant Charles Elsea, Jr, admitted to conspiring with gang members and others to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine in Tennessee. One of his roles was collecting and delivering money for the organization. In February 2020, Phelps was traffic stopped by law enforcement who found $119,000 in cash concealed in the spare tire of his vehicle. Phelps was transporting the cash out west to purchase pounds of methamphetamine. The money was seized by law enforcement.

In addition to HSI, other local and federal agencies who participated or assisted in the investigation included the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Postal Service, Tennessee Department of Correction Office of Investigations and Conduct; Elizabethton and Carter County Joint Drug Task Force; Huron Undercover Narcotic Team with the Michigan State Police; Arkansas Highway Patrol; Missouri Western Interdiction Task Force with the Kansas City (Missouri) Police Department; and California Visalia Police Department.

This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

HSI is a directorate of ICE and 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 over 10,400 employees consists of more than 7,100 special agents assigned to 220 cities throughout the United States, and 80 overseas locations in 53 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

Learn more about HSI Nashville’s activities @HSI_Nashville.