A Lowndes County man who sold cocaine from a Waycross, Ga., residence has been sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison.
Benjamin Godwin, 36, of Remerton, Ga, was sentenced to 151 months in prison after previously pleading guilty to Distribution of Cocaine, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. The sentence for Godwin is consecutive to a 41-month drug-trafficking sentence in state court in Florida for which Godwin had failed to report to custody, and to any additional time he could be ordered to serve for violating state parole in Georgia. After completion of his prison terms, Godwin must serve three years of federal supervised release, and there is no parole in the federal system.
“Benjamin Godwin’s extensive criminal record makes it clear that a substantial period of incarceration is warranted,” said U.S. Attorney Steinberg. “We hope that the sentence in this case will finally deter him from future criminal conduct and ensure the safety of the community.”
As described in court, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation initiated an investigation in 2021 after identifying Godwin as a drug trafficker in Ware County. The investigation led to his federal indictment in September 2022, and he pled guilty in December 2022 to Distribution of Cocaine.
Godwin, who has multiple prior convictions for drug trafficking, faced an outstanding state warrant after failing to report for incarceration after a methamphetamine trafficking conviction in Hillsborough, Fla., in January 2021. After sentencing in the federal case, U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood ordered Godwin remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
“Removing this repeat offender from the Waycross, Ga., community will effectively disrupt one of the primary supply chains for cocaine in south Georgia,” said Robert J. Murphy, the Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. “This defendant will now spend well-deserved time in prison instead of selling poison in our community.”
“This repeat offender has chosen a life of crime and now must pay the consequences by serving this lengthy sentence,” said Mike Register, Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. “We will continue to work with our federal partners to investigate drug trafficking and make our communities safer.”
The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcela C. Mateo.
