TELFAIR COUNTY, Ga. (WGXA) -- A Georgia man will spend more than 14 years in federal prison for his role in a meth trafficking ring that operated in parts of the midstate.

The Department of Justice states that 49-year-old James Lamount Graham played a "significant role" in the illicit drug ring. Lamount was also fined $5,000 and was ordered to serve five years of supervised release after getting out of prison.

In addition, he must pay $100 for each of the 36 counts on which he was found guilty.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents got phone wiretap orders beginning in April 2018 to continue an investigation that had helped authorities uncover networks of people involved in meth and cocaine sales in Telfair, Coffee, Bacon, Jeff Davis, and Appling counties.

After Graham's trial in November 2021, a US District Court jury found him guilty of:

• Conspiracy to Possess and Distribute Controlled Substances
• Distribution of 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine (two counts)
• Use of Communication Facility (33 counts)

Lamount's convictions for Use of a Communication Facility refer to his use of phones to operate the trafficking ring.

Eight co-defendants have already been sentenced to prison terms of up to 18 years after pleading guilty to their own charges.

“The final sentencing in this case ends an exhaustive investigation that shut down a drug operation responsible for peddling dangerous drugs throughout the streets of middle Georgia and elsewhere,” said the Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Atlanta Field Division, Robert J. Murphy. “DEA would like to thank its law enforcement partners whose meticulous work made this investigation a success. The citizens of the impacted areas should know that DEA is committed to removing dangerous drugs from their community and prosecuting the drug dealers who peddle this poison.”

Operation Rat Trap II was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation.