OKLAHOMA CITY – A five-year, statewide investigation into drug trafficking and other criminal activity of the Irish Mob Gang, an Oklahoma-based prison gang, has resulted in 125 defendants being convicted across multiple federal cases, including more than a dozen high-ranking, incarcerated members of the gang.
Over the course of the multiphase investigation, federal, state and local law enforcement employed various investigative tools and techniques, including a dozen court-approved wire taps on phones used by the IMG’s network. More than half of the wire taps were on contraband cellphones smuggled into state prisons that defendants used to direct trafficking operation outside prison walls.
Corrections Department employees seized 28,184 contraband cellphones between Aug. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2021, said Josh Ward, public information manager for the agency. The contraband phones are sold or destroyed, in accordance with state law, he said.
In addition to convicting 125 Irish Mob Gang members and associates, law enforcement officers seized more than 525 pounds of methamphetamine and heroin, 212 firearms, and almost $600,000 in drug proceeds and real property associated with the IMG’s criminal activity, law enforcement officials announced.
Crimes for which the IMG members and associates were convicted included drug trafficking, drug conspiracy, money laundering, witness retaliation, witness tampering, maintaining drug premises, illegal firearms possession, and possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, among others.
Of the 125 defendants, one received a life sentence in federal prison, 113 have been collectively sentenced to 1,350 years in federal prison, seven lower-level defendants collectively received 33 years of probation in federal court, and two defendants received 15 years of deferred sentences in state court. Two defendants still await sentencing.
Several Gang Members
Are Career Criminals
Among the defendants:
Ÿ David Postelle, 38, the head of the IMG, ran the drug trafficking operation from his maximum-security cell at the state penitentiary in McAlester by connecting fellow IMG members to sources of supply for drugs through contraband cellphones. A federal judge held him responsible for either distributing or assisting in the distribution of more than 270 kilograms of methamphetamine.
Postelle was sentenced to life in federal prison for his part in orchestrating this large-scale drug trafficking ring from behind prison walls. He was already serving life without parole for a first-degree murder conviction in Oklahoma County in 2008.
Ÿ Chad Hudson, 41, the leader of the IMG before Postelle took over, was held responsible for dealing more than 45 kilograms of methamphetamine from inside his maximum security prison cell. Hudson was sentenced to serve 348 months (29 years) in federal prison.
Ÿ Zachary Clark, 32, an IMG member and a state penitentiary inmate, was found responsible for distributing approximately 100 kilograms of methamphetamine from state custody. While in federal custody, Clark also engaged in repeated attempts to intimidate witnesses. Clark was sentenced to serve 480 months (40 years) in federal prison.
Clark amassed a dozen felony convictions from Pontotoc County in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015, Oklahoma Corrections Department records reflect. Those offenses included aggravated assault and battery, trafficking in illegal drugs, distributing drugs near a school, auto theft, malicious injury to property, second-degree burglary, carrying weapons or other contraband into a jail, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, altering or removing a vehicle’s identification number, unlawful use of a police radio, receiving stolen property, and operating a vehicle ‘chop shop.’
Ÿ Aaron Keith, 40, an Irish Mob Gang member and state inmate, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from his state prison cell. He was involved with multiple acts of violence, including participating in the stabbing of another IMG member believed to be co-operating with authorities against the gang. Keith was sentenced to serve 480 months (40 years) in federal prison.
Keith was in the state prison system for multiple convictions in Cleveland County for distributing a controlled dangerous substance near a school, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, first-degree burglary, armed robbery, receiving stolen property, and conspiracy.
Ÿ Rogelio Velasquez, 44, one of the sources of drug supply for the IMG, was convicted of conspiracy to traffic drugs and lauder drug proceeds. When arrested in Kansas he had more than 100 firearms stashed in several locations, and wiretap interceptions during the investigation revealed that Velasquez was trafficking firearms to Mexico. The investigation also implicated him in an attempted murder in Kansas. Velasquez was sentenced to serve 310 months (almost 26 years) in federal prison.
Ÿ Niko Davis, 30, an IMG associate, was arrested when intercepted communications indicated he had been dispatched by Richard Coker, 39, an IMG member and state inmate, to “pistol whip” a third party in exchange for some heroin. Coker had likewise told Davis regarding a witness, “I need her head blown off.”
For their respective parts in the overall IMG drug conspiracy, Davis was sentenced to 84 months (seven years) in federal prison, while Coker was sentenced to 360 months (30 years) in federal prison.
Coker has a record of convictions in McClain and Oklahoma counties for robbery, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, trafficking in illegal drugs, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, domestic assault and battery, and damage to a railroad.
Ÿ Jade Christian Nichols, 26, was initially convicted in Oklahoma City’s Western District federal court in March 2020 of being a felon unlawfully in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Nichols was convicted by a jury in June 2021 of two counts of witness tampering—one of the assaults coming at the direction of another incarcerated leader of the IMG.
Finally, Nichols was convicted for a third time in December 2021, along with Chad Clark, 36, of witness retaliation after assaulting a co-operating defendant. Nichols and Clark are awaiting sentencing.
Nichols has a record of convictions in Canadian County in 2015 and again in 2019 for possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, a 2015 conviction in Canadian County of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and a conviction in Missouri in 2013 for possession of a controlled dangerous substance, state Corrections Department records indicate.
Clark has convictions from Custer and Woodward counties for possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, committing a felony crime with a firearm, and domestic assault and battery.
Other defendants in the federal case included high-ranking members of the IMG, a Mexican-based source of drug supply to the IMG, drug couriers, money launderers, and even two state prison guards.
Investigation Involved
Multiple Agencies
Early in the investigation, IMG associates made death threats against two prosecutors, investigators said. Additional security measures were required to ensure that the prosecutions were undeterred, and the safety of the prosecutors was maintained throughout this investigation.
Likewise, during the investigation – and with law enforcement’s use of wiretaps – dozens of acts of potential violence were prevented, ranging from potential shootings to kidnappings and assaults.
“This widespread drug trafficking operation was primarily directed and controlled by incarcerated gang members using contraband cellphones from their state prison cells,” U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester said. “Now, 125 gang members and associates have been held accountable, more than 525 pounds of deadly drugs have been taken off the streets, and 212 firearms have been taken out of the hands of criminals.”
The wrap-up of the investigation and prosecution effort was jointly announced by Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Ed Gray, Oklahoma City Police Chief Wade Gourley, IRS Criminal Investigations Special Agent in Charge of Dallas Field Office Christopher Altemus, and Troester.
“This was an outstanding example of federal, state, and local agencies working together to positively impact the state of Oklahoma by disrupting and dismantling this large-scale violent gang involved in drug trafficking,” said Gray.
“Methamphetamine use and its associated criminal activity have a detrimental effect on our city, and this operation will certainly make our community safer,” said OKC Police Chief Gourley.
“The laundering of illegal drug profits is as important and essential to drug traffickers as the very distribution of their illegal drugs,” said Altemus, IRS Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge, Dallas Field Office. “Without these ill-gotten gains, the traffickers cannot finance their organizations. The role of IRS-CI in narcotics investigations is to follow the money to financially disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking and money laundering organizations.”
Valuable assistance was provided from numerous other law enforcement partners, Troester said, including the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control; the Oklahoma Department of Corrections; the U.S. Marshals Service; and the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office.