Defendant in Major Georgia Drug Case Connected to Gangs Found Guilty

Photo byGDC

The final defendant in a major drug trafficking case has been convicted on all charges following a two-day jury trial.

Blake K. Screen, 36, from Brunswick, was found guilty of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and to Distribute Methamphetamine and Fentanyl, as well as Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl, according to Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. Screen faces up to 20 years in prison, significant financial penalties, and a period of supervised release after his prison term, with no possibility of parole in the federal system.

“This conviction marks a significant achievement in this investigation,” said U.S. Attorney Steinberg. “The exceptional work of the investigators and prosecutors has successfully dismantled this drug trafficking operation and ensured accountability for those involved.”

Screen was one of 76 defendants charged in USA v. Alvarez et al., also known as Operation Ghost Busted, named for the drug conspiracy’s connections to the Ghost Face Gangsters and other street gangs. The indictment, unsealed in January 2023, resulted from an investigation uncovering a network distributing large quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and alprazolam in Glynn County and surrounding areas.

Over a period of more than two years, a multi-agency task force—including the FBI Coastal Georgia Violent Gang Task Force, Glynn County Police Department, Brunswick Police Department, Glynn County Sheriff's Office, and Camden County Sheriff's Office—worked to identify this extensive drug trafficking network. The conspiracy operated both inside and outside Georgia prisons, coordinated by members of the Ghost Face Gangsters and affiliates of other gangs such as the Aryan Brotherhood, Bloods, and Gangster Disciples.

During the trial before U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood, jurors learned that Screen communicated via text and Facebook messages with other traffickers, including inmates, to distribute large quantities of illegal drugs. Authorities found over 65 doses of fentanyl in Screen’s possession at the time of his arrest.

In addition to his recent convictions, Screen has a prior criminal record, having served time in prison between 2016 and 2018 for convictions in Glynn County, including entering a vehicle, burglary, and theft by shoplifting.

Of the original 75 defendants in Operation Ghost Busted, 70 have been sentenced to prison terms ranging up to life after pleading guilty, and four are awaiting sentencing. One defendant died before trial. Sentencing for Screen will be scheduled by Judge Wood following a pre-sentence investigation by U.S. Probation Services.

Operation Ghost Busted, the largest drug trafficking prosecution in the Southern District of Georgia, was carried out under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), which targets high-level criminal organizations using a coordinated, intelligence-driven approach.

The investigation involved multiple agencies, including the FBI Coastal Georgia Violent Gang Task Force; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Georgia Bureau of Investigation; the Georgia Department of Corrections; the Georgia Department of Community Supervision; and local sheriff’s offices from Pierce, Camden, Wayne, Treutlen, McIntosh, Toombs, Telfair, Dodge, and Ware counties. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer J. Kirkland, L. Alexander Hamner, and Criminal Division Deputy Chief E. Greg Gilluly Jr.

Attributions: Southern District of GA