A woman from Van Buren, Arkansas, and a man from Los Angeles, California, have been sentenced to over 27 years in federal prison for their involvement in drug trafficking activities. The sentences were handed down by Chief Judge Susan O. Hickey at the United States District Court in Fort Smith.
The investigation began in July 2023 when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), along with the Fort Smith Police Department, started looking into a drug trafficking organization operating in the Fort Smith area. This group was responsible for distributing methamphetamine. Whitney Laxton-Claybaugh, aged 34, was identified as a member of this organization and faced charges related to drug and money laundering offenses.
Laxton-Claybaugh received a sentence of 214 months for conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. She attempted to hide the origins and control of funds obtained through methamphetamine trafficking by wiring thousands of dollars.
Her co-defendant, Alciviades Alvarado-Juarez, aged 21, was sentenced to ten years for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. A search warrant executed by the FBI at a hotel in Fort Smith revealed that Alvarado-Juarez had over five hundred grams of methamphetamine.
U.S. Attorney David Clay Fowlkes from the Western District of Arkansas announced these developments. The case was investigated by the FBI's Fort Smith Resident Office and the Fort Smith Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Allison.
This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) initiative aimed at dismantling high-level criminal organizations threatening the United States through coordinated efforts across multiple agencies.