Homeland Security Task Force Indicts Eighteen Defendants in Wide-Ranging Drug Trafficking Organization Operating Out of S2 Real Estate Owned Properties

Brad D. Schimel, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on May 5, 2026, a grand jury returned an indictment charging eighteen defendants with offenses related to drug-trafficking organizations that operated out of apartments owned and operated by Samuel P. Stair through his S2 Real Estate business.

Included among the defendants is Samuel P. Stair, who is described as the owner and registered agent of forty-three LLCs that are alleged to have facilitated the drug-trafficking offenses described in the indictment. According to a criminal complaint issued prior to the indictment, Stair rented properties he owned to drug traffickers for the purpose of storing and distributing controlled substances, including cocaine and fentanyl.

The indictment charges Stair with six counts, including charges of maintaining a drug house, conspiracy to maintain a drug house, and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. §§ 841, 846, and 856. The indictment also charges Stair, along with employees of his business and drug-trafficking co-conspirators, with a money laundering conspiracy based on his use of business accounts to conceal drug proceeds. The indictment alleges that Stair used the air of legitimacy created by his business to conceal the nature of his criminal conduct and to facilitate drug trafficking and money laundering. It seeks forfeiture of Stair's ownership interest in forty-three property-holding LLCs, six specific real properties, and over $700,000 seized from Stair's home and bank accounts.

Charged with Stair are seventeen defendants who are alleged to have participated in drug trafficking conspiracies involving the distribution primarily of cocaine and fentanyl and maintaining a drug house. Several defendants are also charged with possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking.

The defendants charged in the indictment, all of whom are from Milwaukee, are the following: Jeanette Lopez, Russell V. McDade, Sr., Walter J. Ringersma, Laura F. Knezic, Javarius J. Williams, Stacey L. Berry, Alberto L. Boffil, Jr., Cristal F. Nokes, Wesley R. Bynum, Victoria T. Allen, Kerry Howell, Sr., Jermaine Erving, Otis Lockett, Martin L. Sinclair, Ser Jimmy L. Shepherd, Larry A. Shepherd, Shareerah J. McCay, and Samuel P. Stair.

On April 22, 2026, federal, state, and local law enforcement executed coordinated search warrants at fourteen locations in Chicago and Milwaukee. In prior months, local law enforcement conducted related searches of other Stair-owned properties. These searches resulted in the seizure of kilogram quantities of fentanyl as well as cocaine, cocaine base, and methamphetamine. Law enforcement also seized over 22 firearms, over $270,000 in cash, over $500,000 in securities, and three vehicles.

Sixteen defendants are charged in a conspiracy to distribute at least 400 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing fentanyl and 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing cocaine. If convicted, the defendants face a mandatory minimum of ten years in prison and up to life in prison. Some defendants are also charged in separate counts related to the distribution of controlled substances that carry a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and up to 40 years in prison.

Six defendants are charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. They face a mandatory minimum of five years in prison, which must be served consecutively to any other sentence. Two defendants are charged with possession of a machinegun in furtherance of drug trafficking, which carries a mandatory minimum of thirty years in prison.

This indictment ispart 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. This investigation was conducted by agents and officers from HSTF agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security- Homeland Security Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation as well as other agencies, such as the West Allis Police Department and the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation. The prosecution is being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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Public Affairs Officer Steve Caballero

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