Final defendant in Wichita drug trafficking ring sentenced (DOJ)

WICHITA, KAN. - A Kansas man was sentenced to 300 months in prison after a federal jury convicted him for his role in fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy.

According to court documents, Marshall J. Green Jr, 46, of Wichita was convicted on eight counts including conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon.

Green was a part of a drug trafficking ring in Wichita headed up by Calvin L, Williams Jr, 45, of Wichita. In 2022, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Wichita Police Department (WPD), identified two residences Williams and his co-conspirators used to store and distribute large quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine. Williams didn't live at either house but was paying the rent. While executing search warrants, ATF agents found more than 24 kilograms of fentanyl, more than 32 kilograms of methamphetamine, and multiple firearms at one of the homes. A search of the second location yielded pill presses, multiple pounds of binding powders used to manufacture pharmaceutical-type pills, dye stamps to imprint pills, pure fentanyl powder and more than six kilograms of finished pills later determined to contain fentanyl.

Williams pleaded guilty to one count of drug conspiracy (fentanyl) and was sentenced to 240 months in prison.

Also convicted in connection to this case are the following defendants all of Wichita:

• Harold E. Hawkins Jr, 56, pleaded guilty to one count of drug conspiracy (fentanyl) and was sentenced to 180 months in prison.
• Devon M. Love, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of drug conspiracy (fentanyl) and was sentenced to 144 months in prison.
• Martin A. Marshall, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of drug conspiracy (fentanyl) and was sentenced to 114 months in prison.
• Larry D. Triplett III, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of drug conspiracy (fentanyl) and was sentenced to 120 months in prison.
• Chazare R. Oliver Jr, 23, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and was sentenced to 60 months in prison.
• Shantwon M. Hervey,30, pleaded guilty to one count of use of a communication facility to facilitate a drug trafficking crime and was sentenced to three years of probation.
• Hannah R. English, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of use of a telephone to facilitate a drug trafficking crime and was sentenced to two years of probation.
• Janelle L. Bell, 28, pleaded guilty to one count of providing false information in connection with the purchase of a firearm and was sentenced to two years of probation.

"The conclusion of this case finalizes the disruption of a significant drug trafficking ring," said U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser. "Unfortunately, there is more work to do preventing this poison from infecting our communities and keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals involved in illegal activity. I am confident that through ongoing coordination between federal, state, and local partners, we will continue to make Kansas and the entire country safer."

"Drug traffickers who arm themselves are a direct threat to our communities, and Marshall Green, Jr., was no exception," said Special Agent in Charge Bernard "Butch" Hansen, of the ATF Kansas City Field Division. "Not only did Green keep firearms close as a convicted felon, he used them to protect a supply of fentanyl and methamphetamine he was pushing into the community. In fact, this investigation found that Green and his conspirators sat on hundreds of pounds of excipient powders that could have easily produced millions of additional fentanyl tablets."

Hansen said, "The disruption of their fentanyl manufacturing alone prevented the loss of countless lives. The 300-month sentence handed down will take this dangerous individual off our streets for years to come, and that result is a credit to our ATF Special Agents, the Wichita Police Department, Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office, Kansas Bureau of Investigation, DEA, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Kansas, who all stood with us to hold him fully accountable."

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Wichita Police Department investigated the case.