Cocaine trafficker who distributed millions of dollars of illegal drugs sentenced to federal prison

Date: Jan. 7, 2026

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ATLANTA - Maurice Lynch has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a nationwide cocaine trafficking conspiracy, during which he sold approximately two million dollars' worth of cocaine from a Fairburn, Georgia residence.

"Lynch was part of a large network of cocaine traffickers that peddled millions of dollars of deadly drugs from a metro-Atlanta residence," said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. "Our office will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to hold dangerous drug dealers accountable."

"This case demonstrates how illegal drug and firearms possession can create a serious public safety threat," said Jae W. Chung, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division. "DEA will continue working alongside our federal, state, and local partners to identify and dismantle drug operations that endanger our communities."

"Let the word get out that if you spread poison in our community there is no way you can run and hide from the U.S. Marshal's service," said U.S. Marshal Thomas E. Brown. "We will hunt and find you, there is no rock large enough to conceal your whereabout from us."

According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and other information presented in court: Lynch participated in a conspiracy that distributed cocaine from stash houses located across the United States, including in the Northern District of Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; Buffalo, New York; Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; and northern New Jersey. Lynch operated one of the organization's stash houses in Fairburn, Georgia. From there, Lynch distributed 86 kilograms of cocaine, worth approximately two million dollars, during the summer of 2022.

On July 18, 2022, Lynch departed the Fairburn stash house in a ride-share vehicle, carrying two bags. When a Georgia State Patrol trooper attempted to stop the vehicle, Lynch fled on foot, tossing the two bags into nearby trees. He was quickly apprehended, and troopers found two kilograms of cocaine inside the bags. Law enforcement subsequently searched the Fairburn stash house and found two firearms under a couch, over $100,000 in cash, and a drug ledger.

Maurice Lynch of Tacoma, Washington, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Lynch was convicted of conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute on September 25, 2025, after he pleaded guilty.

Lynch was charged with eight other defendants, four of whom have pleaded guilty:

• Tyronne Johnson, Jr. of Queens, New York, pled guilty to possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute on August 20, 2025. He was sentenced to six years, six months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release on November 19, 2025.
• Elisa Johnson of Kirkland, Washington, pled guilty to conspiring to maintain a premise to distribute a controlled substance on August 20, 2025. She was sentenced to two years, six months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release on November 21, 2025.
• Jovan Jackson, Sr. of Snellville, Georgia, pled guilty to conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and conspiracy to commit money laundering on July 23, 2025. Jackson's sentencing is set for February 16, 2026.
• Dominique Gwinn of Atlanta, Georgia, pled guilty to conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute and conspiracy to commit money laundering on August 6, 2025. Gwinn's sentencing is set for March 2, 2026.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew R. LaGrone, Sandra E. Strippoli, Elizabeth M. Hathaway, and Nicholas L. Evert, and former Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua May and Norman L. Barnett, prosecuted the case.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshals Service, with valuable assistance provided by the Georgia State Patrol.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.

This prosecution is also part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. The Atlanta Wilhelm HSTF comprises agents and officers from ATF, CGIS, DEA, FBI, ICE-HSI, IRS-CI, DOL-OIG, DSS, USMS, USPIS, and USSS, as well as numerous state and local agencies, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia.

IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.