Black Male from Detroit Convicted of Drug Distribution in Tennessee

November 15, 2012
Department of Justice
United States Attorney William C. Killian Eastern District of Tennessee
Detroit Man Convicted Of Conspiracy To Transport Oxycodone From Michigan To East Tennessee And Conspiracy To Launder Cash

GREENEVILLE, Tenn.- Following a three-day trial in U.S. District Court, on November 15, 2012, Qwindel Jerome Page, 28, Detroit, Mich., was convicted of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, conspiracy to commit money laundering and possession of oxycodone with the intent to distribute. Sentencing is set for 1:30 p.m., May 16, 2013. Page faces up to 80 years in federal prison. Federal sentences are not parolable.

From 2007, agents with the Second Judicial Drug Task Force, Sullivan County Sheriff's Department, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations Division, investigated and gathered evidence of drug traffickers bringing oxycodone from Detroit, Mich. to the Tri-Cities area.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Page acquired oxycodone in Michigan and recruited individuals in Detroit to act as couriers to transport the illegal drugs to East Tennessee where the drugs would be resold. Page directed a group of individuals in Johnson City, Kingsport and Bristol who assisted him in selling oxycodone and wiring proceeds back to Detroit. He also used buses, rental cars and commercial airlines to transport the drugs to Tennessee and money back to Detroit.

U.S. Attorney Bill Killian stated, "Over the past few years, Michigan has become a source state of illegal oxycodone being distributed in the Eastern District of Tennessee. Our office will continue to work with the law enforcement agencies to send a message to drug dealers in Detroit and elsewhere that the cost of doing business in the Eastern District of Tennessee will be high.

I want to thank the law enforcement agencies involved in this investigation and those who continue to work diligently to rid our district of illegal trafficking of this addictive drug which is devastating the lives of individuals and damaging families."

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Regalia represented the United States at trial.

The investigation is a result of the Department of Justice's Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice's drug supply reduction strategy. OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multi-level attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations.

Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation's drug supply.

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