Vernon man, 71, sentenced to 15 years for multi-ton marijuana ring
Rufus Daniel Curington Jr., 71, of Vernon was sentenced on 2 October 2012 to 15 years in federal prison for a marijuana-trafficking conspiracy that moved four to five tons from a Mexican organization through Florida stash houses; the probe seized over 2,700 pounds of drugs, 61 weapons and $500,000, and eleven people had been arrested that February.
🇺🇸 Vernon, Washington County, Florida · Florida, United States
Rufus Daniel “RD” Curington Jr., 71, of Vernon, Florida, was sentenced on 2 October 2012 in federal court in Panama City to 15 years in prison for his role in a large-scale marijuana trafficking organization, after pleading guilty in July to marijuana-trafficking conspiracy and possessing firearms in furtherance of it.[1][2]From August 2009 until his arrest that February, Curington and his accomplices received four to five tons of marijuana from a Mexican drug-trafficking organization, storing shipments and drug proceeds at stash houses in and around Vernon for distribution across northern and central Florida, with cash carried to Texas and on into Mexico.[1][2]
Eleven people had been arrested on 6 February 2012, when officers executed search warrants at four properties and found a tractor-trailer load of over 2,700 pounds of marijuana off-loaded into a shed, alongside 61 firearms and more than $500,000 in cash across the searches.[3][2]At Curington’s own residence officers seized about $156,000 in drug proceeds bound for Texas and three firearms he used to protect the operation.[1][2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Gary Robinson, 27, of Akron was sentenced to eight years in federal prison after pleading guilty to distributing marijuana and trafficking 19 firearms with co-defendant Walter Hicks through straw purchases at licensed dealers in Summit County.
A Nebraska man was sentenced to 82 to 93 years in prison for the 2024 shooting death of a man who died outside a south Lincoln grocery store during a marijuana deal. Officers found 9.69 pounds of marijuana in the victim's vehicle.
A federal court sentenced Christopher L. Daniels, 47, of Tallahassee, Florida, to 25 years in prison after a jury convicted him of possessing controlled substances with intent to distribute and possessing a firearm as a felon. A January 2026 search of his home seized a pound (about 0.45 kg) of marijuana alongside methamphetamine, cocaine, crack cocaine, synthetic cathinones and four pistols.
Nigel White was sentenced in Brown County court to 18 years in prison plus 10 years of extended supervision for his role in the August 2024 marijuana deal on Berner Street where Brandon Ramirez was shot dead. White, one of five people charged, had pleaded no contest to felony murder; prosecutors said he drove a getaway vehicle.
Charged 5Sentenced 1Prison 18 years initial confinement and 10 years extended supervisionDeaths 1