Centreville Man Part of Inter-State Drug Trafficking Ring, Prosecutors Say

A Centreville man was allegedly involved for years in a drug trafficking ring that stretched from the foothills of southwestern Virginia to the beaches of Florida.

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Tennessee indicted Allen Vaughn Crews, 37, of Fence Post Court, Centreville, along with 22 other individuals, on May 11th. The charges for those involved—whose aliases listed in the indictment include nicknames like "Elf," "Beans" and "Elbow"—include conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute oxycodone, cocaine and marijuana. Crews faces multiple counts of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

Prosecutors say the trafficking ring operated in northeast Tennessee, southwest Virginia, Michigan and Florida. The grand jury's indictment charges that from about January 1st, 2003, to May 10, 2011, Crews, among other people, both distributed marijuana and possessed it with intent to distribute. 

On May 17th, Crews was arrested by an ATF agent, court documents show. Authorities confiscated a small amount of marijuana from the vehicle he was driving, according to a search warrant filed recently in Fairfax County Circuit Court. On May 18th, U.S. Marshals took Crews into custody. A search of his room revealed a drug scale and marijuana pipe, according to the search warrant inventory. 

Multiple agencies collaborated on the investigation, which spanned several years and several states, the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Tennessee said in a press release.

Crews is presumed innocent until proven guilty. If convicted, he could face stiff fines and years in prison.