California man gets 28 years for trafficking drugs to Georgia

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Drugs seized in Georgia drug trafficking case.  ( U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia)

ATLANTA - A California man was sentenced to almost three decades in prison for leading a drug-trafficking ring that transported meth and fentanyl into Georgia, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Drugs trafficked into Georgia

What we know:

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia said Wilfort Foster III, 41, was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty to narcotics and money laundering conspiracy charges. He was also sentenced to serve 5 years of supervised release.

The crimes he pleaded guilty to took place from 2018 to 2022, according to federal officials.

Foster and others conspired to transport methamphetamine and fentanyl from California to Georgia, prosecutors said. Officials said Foster ran his operation out of his California barbershop. He once allegedly broke an alleged ring member’s jaw during a feud over their drug debt, according to prosecutors.

After Foster’s operation sold drugs, alleged ring members in Georgia laundered more than $600,000 in cash to Foster by using shell companies and flying with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to California.

Officials said they seized significant quantities of narcotics and more than a dozen firearms, including an AR-15, during their operation around Foster's drug trafficking.

Foster continued his drug and money laundering operation in Georgia despite being on probation in California in a case involving the seizure of more than nine kilograms of methamphetamine and two firearms.

Atlanta law enforcement stops drug trafficking

What they're saying:

"This sentencing marks the end of a years-long effort to dismantle a dangerous drug trafficking network that was pushing lethal fentanyl and methamphetamine into our communities," said Paul Brown, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta.

"Our office partnered with a host of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to dismantle a significant, multi-state drug trafficking and money laundering network," said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. "Foster’s 28-year prison sentence should serve as a robust warning to others who might consider trafficking deadly fentanyl and methamphetamine in North Georgia."

Guilty pleas in Georgia drug trafficking

Dig deeper:

Steven Ham, 43, of Cartersville, Georgia, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release in connection with Foster's operations, according to officials. He pleaded guilty on Nov. 26, 2024, to possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Additionally, the following defendants have pleaded guilty as part of this case and are awaiting sentencing:

• Clifford Alexander, 39, of Gadsden, Alabama, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.
• Frank Miller, 47, of Cartersville, Georgia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
• Kenneth Antoine Scott, 41, of East Point, Georgia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
• Lori Silvers, 46, of Rockmart, Georgia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.
• Nia Thomas, 31, of Atlanta, Georgia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.