Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Winfield Agee, 36, of Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge James D. Peterson, to 15 years in prison for conspiring to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine. Agee pleaded guilty to this charge on January 26, 2023.
The government investigation revealed that Agee was the undisputed leader of a large-scale drug trafficking organization responsible for moving at least 50 kilograms of cocaine from Chicago to Madison between 2014 and 2020. As a result of his lucrative operation, Agee was leading high-ranking . they finished cars, lived in elegant luxury accommodations, and collected designer clothing, jewelry, shoes, and handbags.
The investigation showed that beginning in approximately 2014, Agee, who resided in Chicago, began providing cocaine to multiple people, including multiple female associates, for redistribution in Madison. An information source (SOI-1) reported that towards the end of 2014, he began transporting a kilogram of cocaine from Chicago to Madison twice a month for Agee. The arrangement between SOI-1 and the defendant continued for several years until SOI-1 was arrested in May 2018.
Another source of information (SOI-2) reported that she began transporting cocaine under Agee’s direction between Chicago and Madison beginning in 2018. According to SOI-2, she was transporting one kilogram of cocaine per week to Madison in 2019 and 2020. SOI -2 recalled that Agee gave her very specific instructions about how fast to drive, which lane to drive in, and what to do if the police stopped her. According to SOI-2, when she arrived in Madison with the cocaine, she expected Agee to tell her where to deliver it.
On November 25, 2020, SOI-2 rented a car and drove to Agee’s Chicago home to pick up a kilogram of cocaine. Surveillance footage revealed that Agee put a bag in SOI-2’s car outside his apartment building. SOI-2 was in Chicago for less than 30 minutes. Madison police officers stopped SOI-2 while he was driving in Madison and a search of his car revealed the kilogram of cocaine. SOI-2 reported that he had picked up Agee’s cocaine after collecting money from one of his associates in Madison.
A third source of information (SOI-3) reported that she resided in the Madison area and that, beginning in 2018, she would receive large amounts of cocaine from Agee that she would distribute to her associates in Madison. SOI-3 would pick up SOI-2’s cocaine once she got to Madison.
All three sources of information described a similar method of operation used by Agee and his associates. In addition, law enforcement officers were able to corroborate much of the information based on intercepted phone communications and surveillance.
On December 3, 2020, officers executed a search warrant at Agee’s Chicago penthouse. During the search, officers found $6,041 in cash, key fobs for a Rolls Royce, and designer clothing, jewelry, shoes and handbags. Officers later located two vehicles belonging to the defendant in the apartment’s parking lot: a 2019 Rolls Royce SUV and a 2020 BMW M8.
Jewelry seized from Agee included a Patek Phillipe watch, a diamond bracelet, a diamond necklace, and diamond earrings. Based on a jewelry appraisal, the total value of the four pieces of jewelry was $472,718.
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Peterson concluded that a significant sentence was warranted because Agee’s organization was responsible for bringing a large quantity of cocaine into Wisconsin over a significant period of time. Judge Peterson also noted that Agee’s extraordinary success as a drug dealer allowed him to get rich by exploiting other people’s diseases.
A total of eight people have been charged and found guilty of participating in the cocaine distribution scheme.
The charge against Agee is the result of a joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Wisconsin Department of Justice Criminal Investigation Division, the Madison Police Department, and the Narcotics Task Force. of Dane County. The investigation was conducted and funded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a multi-agency task force that coordinates long-term narcotics trafficking investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Aaron Wegner.
Read more on the Department of Justice
