MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. – A 17-count indictment charging seven Bradenton residents in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy was unsealed Friday.
Clemente Betancourt (27), Estevan Betancourt (18), Larry Lee Woodard, Jr. (28), Adonis Bonilla (28), Omar Mejia (28), Jesse Leahy (47), and Alexander Perez (29), all residents of Bradenton, with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.
If convicted on all counts, each faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.
According to the indictment, between March 2022 and May 2023, the suspects were involved in a conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine in Bradenton and throughout Manatee County.
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In addition to the conspiracy charges, the defendants are charged with narcotics transactions on specific dates.
At the time of the arrests, a search warrant was executed at Clemente and Estevan Betancourt’s house in Bradenton. As a result of that search, three firearms, approximately one pound of methamphetamine, 22 cellphones, cocaine, and marijuana were seized.
This case was investigated by a joint Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) which includes Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Central Florida Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) which includes the Bradenton Police Department, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, the North Port Police Department, the United States Coast Guard Investigative Service, the Palmetto Police Department, the Sarasota Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also assisted with the investigation. This case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Maria Guzman, David Sullivan, and Suzanne Nebesky.
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