Local News in Brief : PCP Trafficker Gets 27-Year Prison Term
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A Norwalk man described by prosecutors as a top-level PCP manufacturer and distributor has been sentenced to 27 years in prison, the stiffest such term ever imposed locally, federal officials announced Monday.
“This is, by far, the longest sentence ever imposed in this district related to a PCP trafficking case,” U.S. Atty. Robert C. Bonner said.
James Alvin Patten, 41, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William D. Keller on Friday.
Others sentenced previously in connection with the case were Clarence L. Jones II, 31, of Compton, who received an eight-year term; Michael E. Butts, 31, of Riverside, sentenced to five years in prison, and Belinda J. Lindsay, 31, of Compton, who received an 18-month term.
The four were arrested last September after the sale of more than a gallon of PCP by Jones and Lindsay to federal agents who posed as out-of-state distributors.
As a result of the arrests, agents discovered and confiscated more than 28 gallons of PCP and two PCP laboratories.
The four pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute PCP.
All four must serve their entire sentences without parole.
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