The final member of a group charged with drug trafficking in the Cedar Rapids area was sentenced on Mar. 6 to twenty-seven years in federal prison.
Lavelle Davies, age 32, from Chicago, Illinois, received a sentence of 324 months’ imprisonment and a five-year term of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. Davies is the last of five defendants involved in the case known as the “Shorty” group.
Other members previously sentenced include Tanea Browning, age 29, from Cedar Rapids, who received 156 months’ imprisonment; Andre Corone McNairy, age 34, from Chicago, who was sentenced to 210 months; Jeffery Lamonte Hayes, age 32, also from Chicago, who received 151 months; and Javonte Carpenter, age 32, from Chicago, who was given a sentence of 123 months. Each defendant will serve terms of supervised release following their prison sentences.
Evidence presented during court hearings showed that the group operated by passing phones among themselves to take calls and deliver cocaine and methamphetamine in Cedar Rapids. In October 2023, law enforcement stopped a car containing Davies and several codefendants and found over five kilograms of methamphetamine. During a search of an apartment occupied by Davies and Browning, Davies threw a loaded gun out of a window. In April 2024, McNairy was stopped while driving with over two kilograms of methamphetamine.
All five defendants were sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams and are currently in custody.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which brings together law enforcement agencies and communities to reduce violent crime and gun violence. The Department launched an updated violent crime reduction strategy for PSN on May 26, 2021.
