Sacto 9-1-1: Five arrested in alleged illegal prescription drug ring

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Sacto 9-1-1

The Sacramento Bee's Crime blog is a comprehensive report of crime news, trends and information for your community and beyond.

August 29, 2008

Five arrested in alleged illegal prescription drug ring

From the Associated Press:

Five suspects were arrested Friday as part of a federal investigation into an illegal prescription drug ring involving civilian workers at the Sierra Army Depot in Herlong.

The arrests were the culmination of a lengthy investigation by the Lassen County Narcotics Task Force, the FBI, the ATF and the Sierra Army Depot, where three of the suspects were working and a fourth formally worked, the FBI said.

A Susanville couple, Jim Adams, 48, and Tricia Adams, 39, allegedly were at the center of the ring, the FBI said. They have been charged federally with the illegal sale of Schedule II prescription narcotics consisting primarily of Oxycontin, Percocet and Hydrocodone.

Undercover agents made several purchases of the drugs directly from Jim Adams, a former employee of the depot, the FBI said in a statement from its Sacramento bureau. The charges accuse Tricia Adams of serving as the main supplier of the drugs while continuing to work at the depot, where munitions and military equipment have been stored since 1942.

Also arrested were Jacob Lahr, 25, of Doyle, and Markey Walker, 29, and Jerry Goodman, 41, both of Susanville. They face unspecified state charges, the FBI said.

Investigators and police officers from the Sierra Army Depot initially brought the case to the attention of federal authorities after determining that a drug ring was being operated by base employees. Lahr and Walker also work at the base.

Officers from the California Highway Patrol, Plumas County Sheriff's Office, Susanville Police Department and Lassen Interagency SWAT team were among a total of 75 who also assisted in serving seven search warrants in connection with the arrests.

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Q: What happened to the people involved in the killing of Quinnisha R. Thomas? -- Three people wre convicted. What were their sentences?

A: As reported in The Bee, Deondre Terrell Hudson was a minor when he murdered his girlfriend, 18-year-old Quinnisha R. Thomas and her unborn fetus on Jan. 13, 2003.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge James L. Long, who called the killing "coldblooded," sentenced Hudson, age 18 at the time of sentencing, to prison with no hope of parole on June 22, 2004.

Hudson was convicted on two charges of murder of using a gun to kill Thomas, who was eight months pregnant with his daughter. He shot her execution-style as she walked through an opening in a fence behind a Greenhaven grocery store.

Kevin Duran Coleman, then age 20, and James Kaleo Ross, then age 21, previously pleaded guilty to acting as accessories to murder by helping Hudson dump the body in the bushes of nearby Sojourner Truth Park.

Coleman was sentenced to two years in prison, and Ross was sentenced to a year in jail.

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