The final two defendants in a federal heroin-trafficking case centered in Cabot that involved the deaths of two young men were sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr.
Devon McClain, 21, of Cabot was sentenced to 42 months in prison, to be followed by four years' probation, while Landon Cope, 23, of Little Rock was sentenced to 36 months in prison and three years' probation.
They and six other men were indicted in July 2012 on charges of being part of a heroin-distribution conspiracy that came to light after the Oct. 28, 2011, death of Jared Maxwell, 19, of Little Rock and the March 24, 2012, death of Dustin Harris, 25, of the Cabot area.
The deaths were accidental overdoses that prosecutors said stemmed from the distribution of heroin in the area by Wallando Onezine, 38, of Cabot, who is serving a mandatory minimum 10-year sentence after pleading guilty to the conspiracy charge last July.
After Maxwell's father reported to the Arkansas State Police that his son had died from a heroin overdose in Cabot, state police contacted Drug Enforcement Administration agents, who learned that there had been nine overdoses involving young adults, including those resulting in Maxwell's and Harris' deaths, in a six-month period in the Cabot area. All the overdoses were tied to heroin brought into the area by Onezine.
The case brought to light a burgeoning heroin problem in Arkansas.
McClain pleaded guilty in August to a charge of conspiring to distribute between 100 and 400 grams (3.5 to 14 ounces) of heroin, for which he faced five to 40 years in prison and a fine of up to $5 million. In pleading guilty, McClain told the judge that he had lived with Onezine, who had a relationship with McClain's mother, for several years.
Cope, who had been using heroin with Maxwell and another man outside a Sonic Drive-In when Maxwell overdosed, pleaded guilty in August to a charge of conspiring to distribute heroin, and faced up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Prosecutors said police found evidence that 17 cellphone calls were exchanged the evening of Maxwell's death between Cope and Onezine, who regularly traveled to Memphis to get the drug to resell it in Arkansas.
Metro on 03/21/2015