Two women have been sentenced to prison for their involvement in a drug trafficking conspiracy based in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Federal authorities began investigating the operation at Lux Auto in Newport News in June 2021. The group used the business as a base, storing illegal drugs in vehicles parked on the lot. In September 2023, thirty-seven individuals were charged in a 127-count indictment related to the case.
Amanda Bell, age 24, acted as both a courier and distributor for the organization. She sold marijuana and fentanyl pills during multiple controlled transactions monitored by law enforcement, distributing more than 40 grams of fentanyl. Bell also transported large sums of money between Virginia and California linked to drug trafficking activities. On March 3, 2022, she was intercepted en route to California with over $35,000 intended for marijuana operations. Bell pleaded guilty on April 26 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and received a sentence of five years and ten months in prison on November 25.
Farrah Fair, also known as “10K Fay,” age 26, served as a courier transporting marijuana between California and Virginia using checked luggage on commercial flights. Fair pleaded guilty on January 14 to use of a communication facility in furtherance of drug trafficking and was sentenced on November 25 to two years and six months in prison.
Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, stated: “Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Dominique Evans, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen.”
The prosecution team included Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric M. Hurt, Alyson C. Yates, and Luke Bresnahan.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America—a national effort led by the Department of Justice that focuses resources from its Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) to address violent crime across communities.
More information about this case can be found through the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia or by searching Case No. 4:23-cr-54 on PACER or through the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.