According to a release from U.S. Attorney Edmund A. Booth Jr., a federal jury charged the defendants with conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Those charged are Reginald Darrell Beale, 28, and Latria Grenise Smith, 26, both of Hephzibah; Thomas Polonco Beale, 36, Brian Christopher Harris, 27, Mark Jones, 52, Sylvester Ruben Lewis, 33, Jaimere Prosser, 26, and Marsignor C. White,26, all of Augusta; Sequoyah Elam, 28, of Lincolnton, Ga.; and Derrick D. King, 31, of Milledgeville, Ga.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s CSRA Safe Streets Task Force, which consists of officers and agents from the FBI, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshal Service.