PITTSBURGH - A former resident of Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, more recently a resident of Tucker, Georgia, has been sentenced in federal court to 144 months (12 years) imprisonment followed by five years supervised release on his conviction of violating federal narcotics and money laundering laws, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
Senior United States District Judge Terrence F. McVerry imposed the sentence on Randee Gilliam, 50, of Tucker, Georgia.
According to information presented to the court, the investigation, which began in the fall of 2011 and concluded in mid-March 2012, involved Title III wiretaps on cell phones utilized by Lamont Wright, John Saban, and Dorian Gilliam.
The investigation revealed that Randee Gilliam obtained multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine from a source of supply in Tucson, Arizona, on a regular basis. Randee Gilliam then supplied those kilograms of cocaine to John Saban, a resident of Pittsburgh, on a weekly basis. Randee Gilliam arranged for the kilograms of cocaine to be transported from Tucson, Arizona, to Las Vegas, Nevada, where they were divided up into numerous parcels, hidden inside computer monitors or leather binders, and shipped via UPS or FedEX to several different shipping facilities in the Pittsburgh area. The parcels were then picked up in Pittsburgh by John Saban and his associates.
Saban would then supply nearly all of that cocaine to Lamont Wright, the primary distributor for the organization. Wright, in turn, supplied quantities of this cocaine to countless individuals to include Eric Campbell, Genaro Coleman, and Frederick Ellis.
The drug proceeds collected by Saban from Wright were concealed in protein powder containers and provided to Dorian Gilliam or, on numerous occasions, to Myrene Gilliam. Dorian and Myrene Gilliam then hid the containers in their luggage and flew via commercial airline to Randee Gilliam in Las Vegas to deliver the money. The money was then used by Randee Gilliam to purchase additional quantities of cocaine from the sources of supply in Tucson.
On March 10, 2012, in the midst of the investigation, federal agents, with the assistance of the Monroeville Police, seized $150,000 in drug trafficking proceeds from Randee Gilliam. The cash was seized shortly after it had been provided to Mr. Gilliam by John Saban as payment for multiple kilograms of cocaine that had been supplied to Saban in the days prior.
Assistant United States Attorney Charles A. Eberle prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the federally administered Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) headed by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which is comprised of members drawn from the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Randee Gilliam and his co-conspirators referenced herein. Also assisting in the investigation were the United States Marshals Service, the Penn Hills Police, the Monroeville Police, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the McKees Rocks Police.