LUFKIN, Texas –
     A 47-year-old Lufkin, Texas man has been sentenced to federal prison for drug trafficking violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.
    Phil Bernard Lewis pleaded guilty on Dec. 17, 2014, to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to 300 months in federal prison on Oct. 9, 2015 by U.S. District Judge Ron Clark.
            According to information presented in court, from 2011 to October 2014, Lewis conspired with others to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine from Mexico to customers in the United States, including Lufkin, Texas.  Much of the cocaine was converted to crack cocaine.  Lewis personally received shipments of cocaine from a supplier on a weekly basis and transported it to Lufkin.  Once in Lufkin, Lewis stored the cocaine and crack cocaine at several locations in Lufkin including houses on Dale Street, Booker Street, and East Texas Road, until the drugs were distributed to dealers for trafficking in the area.  Lewis was indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 1, 2014 and charged with drug trafficking violations.
            This case is the result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) joint investigation, Operation Fowl Play.  The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.
            This case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Angelina County Sheriff’s Office, Nacogdoches County Sheriff’s Office, the Nacogdoches Police Department, and the Lufkin Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Baylor Wortham.