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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA manager of a Castleton nightclub has been sentenced to more than 15 years in federal prison on drug and money-laundering charges, U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler announced Wednesday.
Pierre Burnett Jr., 44, was sentenced to 188 months imprisonment by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt for conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine, distribution of heroin and cocaine, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Investigators say Burnett, who managed Epic Ultra Lounge (formerly Tantrum), 8215 Center Run Drive, was the leader of a major heroin and cocaine distribution ring in the Indianapolis area and elsewhere.
Burnett, who used the alias “Doe,” was accused of distributing at least 37 pounds of heroin and 55 pounds of cocaine that he obtained from a Mexican supplier.
Investigators say Burnett, from 2012 to 2015, supplied the drugs to Alan “Al Gore” Duncan, a major distributor in the southern part of Ohio, and to Lee Gray, a resident of the Morgan County town of Camby.
Gray used “Dark Web” sites such as Silk Road and Black Bank to locate customers, sold them drugs using bitcoins and delivered them through U.S. mail, authorities say. Gray laundered his bitcoins by using foreign exchange companies to wire U.S. currency into multiple bank accounts.
Gray pleaded guilty in December to heroin-distribution and money-laundering charges. He is scheduled for an Oct. 4 sentencing.
Duncan was sentenced to 12-plus years in prison in Ohio.
Pratt also ordered Burnett to spend five years of supervised release after his incarceration.
The investigation involved the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Indianapolis Office, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the IRS and several Ohio law-enforcement agencies.
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