A federal judge ordered a nearly 17-year prison term Friday for a Helena-West Helena man whom federal agents recorded in 2011 complaining about the quality of cocaine he’d purchased and accusing his purported drug supplier of shorting him.
Cedric Dion Edwards, 33, was sentenced to 200 months in federal prison for his role in a drug-trafficking ring that federal prosecutors say funneled hundreds of pounds of cocaine to various dealers in the Arkansas Delta.
Edwards, who is known as “Fat Ced,” pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute. The plea came a year after Edwards and nearly 70 others were arrested by federal agents during a single-day raid in eastern Arkansas.
The Oct. 11, 2011, raid was the culmination of a years long FBI-led investigation targeting drug-trafficking and public corruption in Lee and Phillips counties.The investigation, known as Operation Delta Blues, netted five law-enforcement officers, all of whom have since pleaded guilty or been convicted of charges related to public corruption.
In his plea agreement, Edwards took responsibility for purchasing and reselling between 4 ounces and 7 ounces of crack cocaine. But federal authorities say Edwards was “comfortable” with Demetrius “D-Coop” Colbert, the purported Marianna-based drug supplier accused of doling out hundreds of pounds of cocaine to various dealers in Lee and Phillips counties.
Colbert, who is also accused of shooting an FBI agent during the federal raid, is to stand trial later this year.
During a brief hearing at the federal courthouse in Little Rock on Friday, Edwards told U.S. District Judge James Moody that he had changed since his arrest in October 2011. He has earned his GED diploma and found faith in God, he said.
“I gave my life over to God. I just changed. I hope that you can see that I’ve changed and can help me out on the time, your honor,” Edwards said.
Edwards also apologized to Moody for his crime.
“I was going through a lot - struggling. I was just doing a lot of evil stuff. I want the court to have sympathy on me,” he said.
Edwards, through his attorney, Leo Monterrey, asked Moody to impose a sentence of five years, the minimum allowed under federal law. Edwards, who qualified as a career offender because of his criminal history, faced up to 40 years in prison going into the hearing.
In response to Edwards, Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Peters argued that Moody impose a prison sentence in the middle of the range recommended by federal sentencing guidelines - 188 to 235 months. Edwards’ trafficking of “significant” amounts of crack cocaine as well as his criminal history warranted such a sentence,she said.
Between the ages of 21 and 29, Edwards was arrested eight times and convicted in five of the cases, including on two charges of drug distribution, she said. Despite “serious” felony convictions, Edwards never served more than 90 days in jail during that time, she said.
“This is someone who has chosen a path for much of his adult life of repeatedly getting into trouble with the law,” she said.
Peters also referred to the casual nature of the conversations between Edwards and Colbert in May 2011 that federal agents recorded via a wiretap on Colbert’s phone.
“This is a defendant who felt comfortable calling Colbert up and complaining and saying he got shorted,” she said.
In his plea agreement, Edwards has admitted that he complained about the amount of powder cocaine he obtained from Colbert. He also complained the powder was “smearing” and not converting into the quality of crack rocks he expected, according to a conversation related in Edwards’ plea agreement.
“This one here, man, that motherf+++++ ain’t right,” Edwards told Colbert, referring to the cocaine being underweight.
According to the plea agreement, Colbert replied that Edwards made a mistake converting the powder cocaine to crack cocaine, which accounted for the weight difference.
“I’m talking like two, three grams missing, I’m talking like 23 … like 23 grams, bro,” Edwards replied, meaning the ounce of crack didn’t weigh 28 grams as it should have.
Edwards’ accusations angered Colbert, whom federal agents say considered the amount Edwards was handling to be a “small quantity.”
“No way,” Colbert responded according to the wiretap transcriptions in Edwards’ plea agreement. “I ain’t got nothing like that. I put everything on there, all the way through .. this s+++ is like clockwork. This s* is like peanuts. We don’t play around on s+++ like that.”
In ordering the sentence, Moody sided with Peters, saying Edwards’ role deserved a heavier sentence than the five year minimum.
“Although I respect what you say, that you’ve changed your life, you appear to be more than just a minor player in this conspiracy and were distributing a significant amount of drugs,” Moody told Edwards.
Moody then ordered the prison sentence, which will be followed by four years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 03/16/2013