Methamphetamine, firearms, and 22 cellphones reportedly seized: 7 charged

FLORIDA – Seven Bradenton residents have been charged for their alleged roles in a methamphetamine trafficking organization that reportedly distributed meth throughout Manatee County.

On Friday, United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced the unsealing of a 17-count indictment charging Clemente Betancourt, 27, Estevan Betancourt, 18, Larry Lee Woodard, Jr., 28, Adonis Bonilla, 28, Omar Mejia, 28, Jesse Leahy, 47, and Alexander Perez, 29, all residents of Bradenton, with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.

If convicted on all counts, each faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.

The indictment also notifies the defendants that the United States intends to forfeit any and all property that is alleged to be traceable to the proceeds of the offenses.

According to the indictment, between March 2022 and May 2023, the above-named individuals were involved in a conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine in Bradenton and throughout Manatee County. In addition to the conspiracy charges, the defendants are charged with narcotics transactions on specific dates.

At the time of the arrests, a search warrant was executed at Clemente and Estevan Betancourt’s house in Bradenton. As a result of that search, three firearms, approximately one pound of methamphetamine, 22 cellphones, cocaine, and marijuana were seized, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida (USAO).

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.,