A sentencing hearing that resulted in a prison term of 15 years and 5 months for drug trafficking for a Little Rock man brought to an end a long-running federal prosecution that has sent 23 people to federal prison for terms ranging from eight months to 20 years and resulted in probation for another five defendants.
Nicholas "Lil Nick" Robinson, 26, was one of the leaders of a drug trafficking organization that authorities said was run by Eric Baldwin of Little Rock and was responsible for distributing hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine, heroin and other drugs throughout Central Arkansas. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Brian Miller sentenced Robinson to 185 months in prison for his part in the conspiracy.
An indictment handed up by a federal grand jury Sept. 5, 2018, contained 53 counts against 31 defendants, 23 of whom were from Central Arkansas and eight of whom were from California, which investigators said was the source of the drugs sold in Central Arkansas.
During the investigation headed up by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 2017 and 2018, three court-authorized wiretaps intercepted hundreds of drug-trafficking calls, enabling investigators to make more than a dozen controlled purchases of drugs.
Investigators said the seizures resulted in more than 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine -- as well as oxycodone and ecstasy pills -- being diverted from the Arkansas market.
In addition, DEA agents working with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service intercepted more than 15 packages containing some 13 kilograms of methamphetamine and 4 kilograms of marijuana sent through the U.S. Mail. Additional operations led to the seizure of another 7.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, 8 kilograms of marijuana, 7 firearms and more than $25,000 in drug proceeds.
The DEA also conducted an extensive financial investigation revealing a pipeline of Walmart-to-Walmart wire transfers from Arkansas to California that is believed to have been the source of payments for the drugs. In all, investigators said, more than a quarter-million dollars was sent to California by the organization to buy drugs for the Central Arkansas market.
Under federal sentencing statutes, Miller told Robinson, he was subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and could be sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Robinson's attorney, John Wesley Hall Jr. of Little Rock, said "the gravity of the offense can't be denied" and asked for a sentence of 15 years.
"We know the government is going to ask for a high-end sentence because they told us," Hall said. "He's shown great acceptance and great remorse, and he got carried away. He's learned his lesson."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Givens said the nature of the offense and Robinson's role in the conspiracy called for a lengthy sentence, albeit one within the sentencing guidelines, which ranged from 168 to 210 months in prison, a downward departure which Miller granted from the initial guideline range of 210 to 262 months in prison.
"We've been dealing with this since 2018, and this is the last defendant to be sentenced," Givens said, adding that Robinson sat at the very top of the organization in Arkansas and was an effective leader. "This group was prolific, and Mr. Robinson was the most prolific of the group."
Givens said when Robinson confessed to his crimes, he admitted to importing 45 kilograms -- 100 pounds -- of methamphetamine into Central Arkansas from California. He said Robinson sat at the top of the organization with Baldwin and co-defendant Justin Collins, both of whom pleaded guilty and have been sentenced in the case. Baldwin was sentenced to 114 months in prison and Collins to 183 months.
Givens asked Miller to consider a sentence of 200 months in prison, saying that sentence would take into consideration the sentencing factors outlined in the federal sentencing statutes, including the seriousness of the crime and the deterrent effect of the sentence on others.
"It's appropriate to put Mr. Robinson at a level above that," Givens said, noting the defendant, despite a lean criminal history score, had been caught with firearms and drugs on at least two occasions and that when investigators searched his home they discovered and seized six firearms.
Robinson, reading from a prepared statement, apologized for his actions and said although he knew he would have to spend some years in prison, through his pre-trial incarceration "I have become more mature mentally."
"This is the most heartbreaking and painful experience of my young life," he told Miller, saying his desire was to improve himself in prison. "I don't want to be seen as a person frozen in time."
Remarking on Robinson's relative lack of criminal history, Miller noted that the defendant would likely have not been eligible for a lengthy prison sentence had it not been for the volume and type of drugs involved in the offense.
"If we were talking about a couple of pounds of marijuana we would probably be sitting here talking about probation," Miller said, but he noted that Robinson sat "at the top of the food chain ... I could very easily give you 20 years and it wouldn't get reversed."
Miller settled on a 185-month sentence to account for the firearms and in addition sentenced Robinson to five years of supervised release. He dismissed an additional 10 counts against Robinson, including several counts for money laundering, drug conspiracy and weapons.