Houston group arrested for running pharma-grade drug stash house

HOUSTON, TX -- Six Houstonians have been taken into custody for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, specifically pharmaceutical grade drugs such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Kerry Lewis Walker, 36, Gerald Dewayne Williams, 65, Trey Demon Neal, 34, James Glen Turk, 21, Quineshia Evangeline Hollins, 33, and Uzoanuuli Uzoaku WJ Payne, 52, will make their initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christina A. Bryan at 2 p.m.

The indictment returned Feb. 14, and unsealed upon the arrests, alleges the group operated the “Green Houses,” a street level stash house in Fifth Ward that sold pharmaceutical controlled substances. Williams and Walker allegedly ran the Green Houses with the assistance of Neal and Turk.

Hollins was the owner of First Choice Rx 245 pharmacy and supplied the Green Houses with drugs from her business, according to the charges.

The indictment further alleges Payne was a pharmacist at First Choice. Law enforcement allegedly intercepted him driving a new shipment of controlled substances from the pharmacy without any lawful reason.

According to the charges, there are thousands of pharmaceutical grade drugs missing from First Choice without any accompanying prescriptions or proper forms allowing their disbursal.

The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation with the assistance of FBI and and IRS Criminal Investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found on the Department of Justice’s OCDETF webpage. Assistant U.S. Attorney Celia Moyer is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison and a possible $1,000,000 maximum fine.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.