Georgia Pair Sentenced for Methamphetamine Drug and Firearm Charges

United States Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr. announced that in federal court, Chief United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle sentenced CHRISTIAN TOLEDO, also known as “FLACO,” 24 of Athens, Georgia, to 180 months imprisonment and 5 years supervised release for possession with the intent to distribute fifty grams or more of methamphetamine, aiding and abetting, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. ARTURTO BAHENA, 28, also of Athens, Georgia was sentenced on December 17, 2019 to 262 months imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute fifty grams or more of methamphetamine, aiding and abetting, and possession with intent to distribute fifty grams or more of methamphetamine, aiding and abetting. 

TOLEDO and BAHENA were named in an indictment filed on January 15, 2019, charging both with conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute fifty grams or more of methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute fifty grams or more of methamphetamine, aiding and abetting.  TOLEDO was also charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking gram.  On September 23, 2019, BAHENA pled guilty to his charges.

According to the investigation, the Greenville Police Department and Drug Enforcement Administration utilized a confidential source to order five kilograms of crystal methamphetamine from a supplier in Atlanta, Georgia.  After learning that the drugs had arrived in Greenville, North Carolina, officers stopped TOLEDO and BAHENA and located the five kilograms in a backpack in their car.  Officers also located two handguns in the car registered to TOLEDO.

The prosecution of TOLEDO and BAHENA was a part of an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force Operation (OCDETF) targeting drug traffickers.  This case is part of the United States Attorney’s Office’s Take Back North Carolina Initiative.  This initiative emphasizes the regional assignment of federal prosecutors to work with law enforcement and District Attorney’s Offices on a sustained basis in those communities to reduce the violent crime rate, drug trafficking, and crimes against law enforcement.

The Greenville Regional Drug Task Force and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducted the investigation of this enforcement operation.  Assistant United States Attorney Dena King represented the government.