Federal drug charges have been filed against more than two dozen defendants in Johnson and Douglas counties. Prosecutors filed a criminal complaint in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas alleging that all 25 defendants were part of a drug ring that distributed high-grade marijuana in Douglas and Johnson counties from 2008 through 2012. The single-count complaint alleges that all defendants conspired to possess and distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana. Search warrants were served and arrests were made today (WED) by federal agents and local law enforcement agencies. If convicted, the defendants face a penalty of not less than 10 years and not more than life and a fine of up to $10 million. Defendants named in the criminal complaint are:
Los Rovell Dahda, 30, Lawrence
Roosevelt Rico Dahda, 30, Lawrence
Sadie Jolynn Brown, 25, Lawrence
David James Essman, 35, Lawrence
Mark Lee Romero, 31, Lawrence
Daniel Mark Sieber, 31, Lawrence
Chad Eugene Bauman, 33, Lawrence
Carey Lynn Willming, 36, Lawrence
Justin Jerome Mercer, 35, Olathe
Michael Shane Witt, 37, Olathe
Peter Park, 41, Olathe
Samuel Villeareal, II, 32, Overland Park
Trent Jordan Percival, 32, Overland Park
Chad William Pollard, 34, Lenexa
Jason Marcus Hansen, 38, Lenexa
Jacob Paul Forbes
Stephen Mallison Rector, 50, Kansas City, Kansas
Charles Thomas Kreisler, 38, Kansas City
Simon Andrew Tyson, 27, Kansas City
Justin Cherif Pickel, 32, San Lorenzo, California
Phillip Villereal Alarcon, 43, Hayward, California
Wayne Suhan Swift, 39, Hayward, California
James Michael Soderling, 42, Fort Bragg, California
Jeffery David Paviva, 39, Union City, California
Amos Moses Hurst, 31, Seattle, Washington
Agencies involved in the investigation and the arrest of defendants include the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, the Lawrence Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Internal Revenue Service.