The leader of a vast drug trafficking organization in Sacramento was sentenced Thursday to 14 years in prison after a multi-year investigation and prosecution.
Maurice Bryant, 54, was sentenced for conspiracy to distribute and possess heroin and at least 5,000 grams of cocaine and additional cocaine base, also known as crack cocaine. Bryant is one of 15 federal defendants who were arrested in 2021 and named in a 45-count indictment.
The arrests were made as part of a Drug Enforcement Administration-led operation encompassing multiple agencies, including local, state, and federal law enforcement. The investigation targeted cocaine and heroin traffickers in North Sacramento, though the network extended beyond the immediate region.
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California found Bryant to be the leader of the large-scale cocaine distribution network.
Throughout the course of a 60-day wiretap, Bryant was discovered to be instrumental in moving cocaine across the Mexican border, as well as the distribution of more than five kilograms of cocaine to his co-conspirators. Bryant also converted considerable quantities of powder cocaine into crack cocaine at his residence.
Agents seized drug trafficking paraphernalia, two loaded firearms, and a military-grade bulletproof vest from his home.
Bryant pled guilty in the case in March 2024.
Law enforcement said the investigation of the trafficking ring put an end to a network of long-time leaders and organizers who were part of a regional cocaine, heroin, and crack cocaine distribution that extended down to Southern California and into Mexico.
The other defendants, all of whom were indicted in June 2021, include Tyrone Anderson, 40, of Sacramento; Yovanny Ontiveros, 41, of Sacramento; Alex White, 61, of North Highlands; Jason Tolbert, 44, of Sacramento; Andre Hellams, 38, of North Highlands; Michael Hampton, 57, of Vallejo; Steven Hampton, 61, of Sacramento; Wilmer Harden, 52, of Elk Grove; Charles Sidney Carter, 34, of Sacramento; Bobby Conner, 50, of Sacramento; Jerome Adams, 54, of North Highlands; Dwight Haney, 49, of Sacramento; Arlington Caine, 47, of Rio Linda; and Mark Martin, 62, of Sacramento.
The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration and included other agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the U.S. Forest Service, the California Department of Justice, the California Highway Patrol, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, and the Sacramento Police Department.
