Illinois Man Sentenced for Involvement in Marathon County Drug Trafficking Organization

Thursday, March 13th, 2025 -- 11:00 AM

Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Edwin Lewis, 43, Park Forest, Illinois was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 12 years in federal prison for conspiring to possess and distribute cocaine and 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, and for possessing with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.

The prison term will be followed by 5 years of supervised release. Lewis pleaded guilty to these charges on December 12, 2024. In February 2022, Central Wisconsin Narcotics Task Force officers began investigating a methamphetamine and cocaine trafficking organization operating in Marathon County, Wisconsin.

The multi-year investigation involved the seizure of drug-laden packages from the mail, controlled purchases of narcotics, and seizures of firearms and large quantities of drugs from residence searches.

From the investigation, officers believe the drug trafficking organization was distributing kilograms quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine. Edwin Lewis was identified as a large quantity source of supply of methamphetamine and cocaine for the Marathon County based drug trafficking organization.

Lewis originally supplied the organization by having bulk shipments of methamphetamine mailed to locations in Wisconsin in 2021 and 2022, including two 11-pound packages containing methamphetamine.

On April 29, 2022, Lewis was found in possession of 7 pounds of methamphetamine during a traffic stop in Chicago, Illinois. After that arrest, members of the Marathon County organization began renting cars to drive to Illinois to pick up large quantities of drugs from Lewis.

At sentencing, Judge Conley said Lewis was a key member of this large drug trafficking operation.  Judge Conley observed that Lewis had already served a federal prison sentence for cocaine trafficking, and essentially doubled down by continuing to traffic much larger quantities of drugs in the present case.

Eight others were also charged in connection with this drug trafficking organization. Teala L. Kumbera was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine and sentenced to 54 months in federal prison.

Shandel L. Mohr was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine and sentenced to 12 months and 1 day in federal prison. Quo Vadis Lewis was convicted of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of both methamphetamine and cocaine and possessing firearms as a felon and was sentenced to 12 ½ years in federal prison.

Shelby Gutch pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine on January 7, 2025, and entered into a 24-month diversion agreement.

Troy C. Olsen was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine and was sentenced to 45 months in federal prison. Craig C. Gates was convicted of possessing cocaine intended for distribution and possessing a loaded firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and was sentenced to 106 months in federal prison.

Tommie Haney was convicted of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of both methamphetamine and cocaine and was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison. Samuel A. Teague has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in the coming months.

The charges against Lewis were the result of investigations conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Central Wisconsin Narcotics Task Force comprised of investigators from the FBI, Wisconsin State Patrol, Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Marathon County Sheriff’s Office, Portage County Sheriff’s Office, Mountain Bay Police Department, Wausau Police Department and Wisconsin National Guard Counter Drug Program, Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, and Chicago Police Department.

The Marathon County District Attorney’s Office also assisted with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven P. Anderson and Saqib Mohammad Hussain (Northern District of Illinois) prosecuted this case. This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation.

OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

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