Schofield Woman Sentenced to 4 ½ Years for Cocaine Trafficking

MADISON, WIS. - Timothy M. O'Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Teala L. Kumbera, 27, Schofield, Wisconsin, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 4 ½ years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute cocaine. The prison term will be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Kumbera pleaded guilty to this charge on August 16, 2024.

In February 2022, Central Wisconsin Narcotics Task Force officers began investigating a methamphetamine and cocaine trafficking organization operating in Wausau, Wisconsin. The multi-year investigation involved the seizure of drug-laden packages from the mail, controlled purchases of narcotics, and seizures of firearms and large quantities of drugs from residence searches. From the investigation, officers believe the drug trafficking organization was distributing kilograms quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine.

Teala Kumbera was identified as a main local distributor of cocaine for one of the leaders of the organization. From intercepted phone calls, officers found that she was picking up cocaine every few days to sell. She was later interviewed following her arrest and admitted to regularly selling cocaine for the past six to twelve months.

While distributing cocaine in this case, Kumbera was on state supervision for two prior methamphetamine trafficking cases. Kumbera's state supervision has since been revoked and she was sentenced to 2 years and 3 months in state prison. Kumbera was also convicted of cocaine trafficking in state court for conduct that occurred during the course of this investigation. She was sentenced to 2 years in state prison in that case to run concurrently with her revocation sentences. Judge Conley ordered that this federal sentence run concurrently with the remainder of Kumbera's state sentences.

In announcing the sentence, Judge Conley highlighted Kumbera's prior criminal history as well her serious conduct in this case, which involved her regularly obtaining significant quantities of cocaine for resale.

Eight others were also charged in connection with this drug trafficking organization. Quo Vadis Lewis, Craig C. Gates, Troy A. Olsen, and Shandell Mohr have all pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced in the coming months. Tommie L. Haney is scheduled to enter a guilty plea on December 2, 2024. Cases against Edwin Lewis, Samuel A. Teague, and Shelby Gutch are still pending and the three are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The charge against Kumbera was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Central Wisconsin Narcotics Task Force comprised of investigators from the FBI, Wisconsin State Patrol, Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, Marathon County Sheriff's Office, Portage County Sheriff's Office, Everest Metro Police Department, Wausau Police Department and Wisconsin National Guard Counter Drug Program. The Marathon County District Attorney's Office also assisted with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven P. Anderson prosecuted this case.

The investigation was conducted and funded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a multi-agency task force that coordinates long-term narcotics trafficking investigations.