Fifteen members and associates of a South Arkansas drug trafficking organization, including two Los Angeles-area narcotics suppliers, have been sentenced to serve a combined 1,591 months in the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
U.S. District Court Judge Susan O. Hickey presided over the sentencing hearings, which took place between August 7, 2024, and May 21, 2025, in Federal District Court in El Dorado.
There is no parole in the federal system.
According to court records, between August 2021 and August 2022, Christopher Walters, 45, of Magnolia, operated a drug trafficking organization (DTO) responsible for distributing kilograms of methamphetamine in and around Columbia County.
Walters sourced bulk methamphetamine from Michael Cummings, 46, a Southern California business owner who doubled as an interstate narcotics supplier. Cummings employed Robert Leonne Morris, 47, of Los Angeles, to deliver methamphetamine and other drugs to Walters in Arkansas, at times by rail. Walters then engaged numerous South Arkansas people and their associates in storing, transporting and distributing methamphetamine, and attempting to do so, before sharing the substantial profits with Cummings.
On August 10, 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and its state and local partners executed search warrants at multiple Columbia County properties owned or controlled by the suspects, including Walters. Investigators found and seized methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, more than 15 firearms, including tactical rifles, and thousands of dollars in cash.
Between September 2022 and March 2023, a federal grand jury sitting in the Western District of Arkansas returned indictments charging 15 members and associates of Walters’ DTO, including Cummings and Morris, with a total of 50 felony counts. All 15 defendants pleaded guilty to one or more felony violations of the Controlled Substances Act, and have been sentenced as follows:
Defendant Prison Term/Sentence Date
Christopher Walters, 45, Magnolia 222 months December 6, 2024
Michael Cummings, 46, Los Angeles 162 months March 21, 2025
Jvance Radford, 47, Magnolia 144 months August 22, 2024
Joseph Lowe, 38, Magnolia 140 months August 12, 2024
Robert Leonne Morris, 47, Los Angeles 121 months May 21, 2025
Lacadran D. Thomas, 37, Magnolia 120 months August 22, 2024
Marcus S. Jordan, 42, Waldo 110 months December 4, 2024
Hendrick Johnson, 27, Magnolia 108 months September 11, 2024
Dawnisha D. Jordan, 40, Magnolia 98 months August 7, 2024
John L. Grissom, 40, Magnolia 97 months August 7, 2024
Jarrod D. Wilson, 38, Magnolia 78 months March 20, 2025
Nyterious L. Sharp, 32, Waldo 60 months August 23, 2024
Antonio J. Johnson, 41, Magnolia 54 months August 22, 2024
Malaysia D. Benjamin, 36, Los Angeles 41 months December 5, 2024
Mario L. Meadows, 36, Magnolia 36 months May 21, 2025
In addition to his 162-month prison sentence, a $100,000 money judgment was also entered against Cummings, representing his profits from the year-long conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in South Arkansas. That judgment is executable against Cummings’ assets in California and elsewhere.
U.S. Attorney David Clay Fowlkes made the announcement.
The case was investigated by the Magnolia Police Department, the 13th Judicial District Drug Task Force, the Union County, Arkansas, Sheriff’s Office, the El Dorado Police Department, the Arkansas State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Graham Jones prosecuted the case for the United States.
