Drug kingpin gets 15 years for leading big Chicago

A Chicago man was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for leading a drug trafficking organization that was responsible for bringing at least 110 pounds of cocaine from Chicago to Madison between 2014 and 2020, authorities reported,

Winfield Agee, 36, was sentenced Friday by Judge James D. Peterson for conspiring to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, a charge he pleaded guilty to on Jan. 26, U.S. Attorney Timothy O’Shea said in a statement.

Italian police seized almost 6,000lbs of highly pure cocaine hidden in two refrigerated containers carrying bananas that were being shipped from Ecuador. Italy's Guardia di Finanza said the haul found in the Calabrian port of Gioia Tauro would have been worth more than 800 million euros. Veuer's Maria Mercedes Galuppo has the story

The investigation revealed that Agee was the undisputed leader of the Chicago-Madison drug trafficking organization and as a result of the lucrative operation, Agee "drove high-end cars, lived in posh luxury accommodations, and collected designer clothing, jewelry, shoes, and bags," O’Shea said.

In 2014, Agee started providing cocaine to people, including several female associates, for redistribution around Madison. One woman reported that in late 2014, she began transporting a kilogram of cocaine from Chicago to Madison twice per month for Agee, and that continued until she was arrested in May 2018, O’Shea said.

Another woman reported that she started transporting cocaine at Agee's direction between Chicago and Madison in 2018, and was transporting a kilogram of cocaine a week to Madison in 2019 and 2020. She said that Agee gave her very specific directions on how fast to drive, which lane to drive in, and what to do if she was stopped by police. She said when she got to Madison, Agee to tell her where to deliver it, O’Shea said.

On Nov. 25, 2020, the woman rented a car and drove to Agee's home in Chicago to pick up a kilogram of cocaine. Surveillance footage revealed Agee putting a bag in the car outside of his apartment building, and Madison police later stopped the car and found the kilogram of cocaine, O’Shea said.

A third woman reported that she resided in the Madison area and beginning in 2018, she would receive large quantities of cocaine from Agee that she would distribute to his associates in Madison. She said she would pick up the cocaine from the second woman, O’Shea said

Police were able to corroborate much of the information based on intercepted phone communications and surveillance, O’Shea said.

On Dec. 3, 2020, officers executed a search warrant at Agee's penthouse apartment in Chicago, and found $6,041 in cash, key fobs for a Rolls Royce, and designer clothes, jewelry, shoes, and bags, with the jewelry later appraised at $472,718. Officers later found a 2019 Rolls Royce SUV and a 2020 BMW M8 belonging to Agee in the parking garage of the apartment, O’Shea said.

Eight people previously have been charged with and pleaded guilty to participating in the cocaine distribution scheme.

The charge against Agee is the result of a joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, Madison Police Department, and the Dane County Narcotics Task Force. The investigation was conducted and funded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, a multi-agency task force that coordinates long-term narcotics trafficking investigations. The prosecutor was Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wegner.

Cocaine is spreading through Europe, much of it through the world ports of Antwerp in Belgium and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

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Online Reporter/Producer for Wisconsin State Journal

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