MUSKOGEE, Okla. — A LeFlore County, Okla., man has been sentenced to life in prison in federal court for leading a drug trafficking operation from behind prison bars.
Heath Lloyd Taylor, 46, who was serving time in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, led a drug trafficking organization operating in the Eastern District of Oklahoma between August 2022 and November 2023, according to a press release issued Tuesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
Taylor was sentenced to life in prison for drug conspiracy charges, the release states.
Nonincarcerated members obtained, stored and distributed over 25 kilograms of methamphetamine and approximately 465 grams of fentanyl from a base of stash houses as part of that conspiracy, the release states. The stash houses also served as a base of operations where the defendants funneled drug proceeds, stored drug trafficking assets and obtained and stored firearms.
Taylor’s co-defendants were sentenced at hearings held between Oct. 16 and April 25.
Seven members of the drug trafficking organization were also sentenced for drug conspiracy, including: Aaron Guy Key, 47, of Poteau, Okla., who received a 20-year sentence; Travis Austin Powers, 38, of Anderson, S.C., 14-year sentence; Mallory Nicole Laird, 37, of Poteau, 10 years and 10 months; Terri Angela Stroud, 53, of Spiro, Okla., five years and 10 months; Kandi Anne Hankins, 43, of Idabel, Okla., four years and nine months; Tracie Ann Sells, 55, of Sallisaw, Okla., three years and five months; and Jeremy Paul Newman, 47, of Poteau, two years.
Five additional members of the drug trafficking organization were sentenced for possession with intent to distribute controlled substances: Taylor Dain Parnell Caldwell, 35, of Poteau, 12 years and seven months; Cody Wade Reece, 34, of Poteau, 12 years and seven months; Heather Leigh Brown, 35, of McAlester, Okla., seven years and three months; Whitney Marie Granite, 37, of Spiro, four years and 10 months; and Randi Shawn Gann, 35, of Heavener, Okla., four years and nine months.
The defendants are in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending transportation to a designated U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a nonparoleable sentence of incarceration, the release states.
The joint investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, working in cooperation with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections Office of the Inspector General, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and IRS Criminal Investigation, the release states.
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