Ten men have now been sentenced for their roles in a large-scale armed drug trafficking organization based in Columbus, Georgia. The prosecution stemmed from Operation Sweet Silence, a multi-agency investigation into drug trafficking in the Columbus area. As part of the investigation, law enforcement recovered firearms, multiple pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine, 232 pounds of marijuana, and $29,000 in cash. Collectively, the sentencings imposed by the court between Aug. 6, 2025, and Jan. 14, 2026, equated to more than 108 years in prison.
“These defendants operated an armed drug trafficking network that distributed large quantities of highly addictive drugs in Columbus, Georgia,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Methamphetamine and cocaine destroy lives, fracture families, fuel violence and are a scourge in our communities. The Justice Department will continue holding those who engage in the armed drug trade to account and ensure safety for our law abiding citizens and families.”
“This case represents the comprehensive efforts being deployed to target and dismantle the most dangerous criminal organizations and hold their members accountable in Columbus and across the Middle District of Georgia,” said U.S. Attorney William R. “Will” Keyes for the Middle District of Georgia. “Prosecutors and law enforcement at every level are working together to combat armed trafficking organizations that threaten our community.”
“These ten defendants were key players in an armed drug trafficking organization that poisoned our community with dangerous substances like methamphetamine and cocaine,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Peter Ellis of the FBI Atlanta Field Office. “The sentences imposed reflect the severe consequences for those who choose to fuel this deadly trade. The FBI remains committed to holding accountable those who engage in these violent criminal activities and ensuring the safety of our communities.”
“Drug trafficking organizations don’t just deal drugs – they bring guns, violence, and instability into our neighborhoods,” said Special Agent in Charge Jae W. Chung of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Atlanta Field Division. “The significant prison sentence imposed today reflects the serious danger these defendants posed and the harm caused by flooding our communities with methamphetamine, cocaine, and other illicit drugs.”
According to public documents and statements in court, the drug organization was led by defendant Tommie Mullins, Jr., who was part of the violent Zohannon criminal street gang. Over the course of the conspiracy, Mullins and the drug trafficking organization distributed vast amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana. The court sentenced the defendants to the following penalties in prison:
Tommie Mullins Jr., also known as “TJ,” “Bo,” and “Mini,” 31, of Columbus, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Feb. 10, 2026;
Trenton Clemons, 48, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Oct. 7, 2025;
Anthony Champion, 46, was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison on Aug. 6, 2025;
Corey Turner, also known as “Lito Red,” 33, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Oct. 7, 2025;
Adrian Palmer, also known as “AP,” 25, was sentenced to 14 years in prison on Oct. 7, 2025;
Trenton Thomas, also known as “Bubble,” 25, was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison on Oct. 7, 2025;
Javonta Paden, 25, was sentenced to five years and 11 months in prison on Aug. 6, 2025;
Christopher Hill, 36, was sentenced to two years in prison on Dec. 17, 2025;
Adrian Pleasants, 29, was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison on Aug. 6, 2025; and
Darius Jenkins, 24, was sentenced to one year and six months in prison on Oct. 7, 2025.
The federal investigation into the Zohannon gang included court authorized wiretaps on Tommie Mullins’ and other defendants’ phones. Physical surveillance and other investigative techniques confirmed that Mullins, Champion, Turner, Palmer, Hill, Thomas and others all dealt drugs out of Mullin’s Cove Circle residence.
On March 18, 2023, FBI intercepted wiretap calls in which Turner arranged for the sale of a “30 sack,” which law enforcement understood meant narcotics. Surveillance captured Turner briefly stopping by the Cove Circle residence before heading to the location where the drugs were sold.
The defendants persistently repeated this pattern of briefly going to the Cove Circle house before heading to a drug sale, sometimes with Turner and Mullins directing other defendants to conduct drug deals on their behalf. In intercepted calls made between March 6 and March 7, 2023, Mullins and Turner directed Hill to conduct a half-kilogram drug sale to Champion.
In another deal, law enforcement saw Turner leave the Cove Circle house, enter Champion’s vehicle sitting outside the house, and almost immediately exit the vehicle. Champion then drove off. A short time later, a wiretap call captured Champion calling Turner to complain “this ain’t even a whole it’s a half. I’m fixing to bring it back to you and show you.”
Wiretapped calls and physical surveillance also captured defendants Thomas, Paden, Pleasants, and Palmer arranging to fly to Seattle, Washington to purchase and transport 300 pounds of marijuana back to Columbus. Before leaving for Seattle, surveillance showed Thomas meeting with leader Mullins and phone records showed that Mullins spoke to the drug supplier in Seattle only hours after this meeting. Knowing about the planned drug purchase from the wiretap, law enforcement arranged for a law enforcement K9 to be waiting at the airport when Thomas, Palmer, Peasants and Paden flew back from Seattle. After the dog alerted to the odor of narcotics on the luggage belonging to these defendants, law enforcement seized 232 pounds of marijuana. Later, intercepted calls showed Thomas and Palmer setting up deals for 10 pounds of methamphetamine at a time in hopes of recouping some of the money they lost after the marijuana seizure.
A separate airport search netted over $29,000 in cash, which was seized from Mullins as suspected drug proceeds. The investigation further revealed that both Thomas and Palmer used Jenkins to distribute narcotics in street-level quantities. In one call, Jenkins told Palmer “I passed the sample around the hood” and asked whether this was “your price per pound?” A police search of Palmer’s vehicle revealed approximately one kilogram of methamphetamine packaged in 33 separate baggies.
Clemons also sold drugs for and with Mullins. On April 15, 2024, Mullins and Clemons traveled in Mullins’ vehicle from Columbus, Georgia to a music studio in Atlanta. There, Mullins and Clemons met with a co-conspirator who gave them a bag, the contents of which Clemons emptied into a blue suitcase. Later that day, a traffic stop revealed over 4-pounds of almost pure methamphetamine.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
The case was investigated by the FBI, DEA, and the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office, with critical assistance from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office; the Russell County, Alabama Sheriff’s Office; the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office; the Sacramento, California Sheriff’s Office; and the Muscogee County District Attorney’s Office.
Trial Attorney Matthew Mattis of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Veronica Hansis for the Middle District of Georgia prosecuted the case.