Former coach and "great man" sentenced for meth-in-tennis-balls conspiracy
By MARGARET BAKER
GULFPORT, MS
A Jackson County native who was living in Atlanta when he was brokering large shipments of the purest form of meth, known as ice, to drug peddlers in South Mississippi will serve more than 23 years in prison for his involvement in the large-scale conspiracy.
Marques DeAnthony Payton, 36, pleaded for mercy prior to his sentencing Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden.
"I know right from wrong," Payton said, tearing up as he spoke. "I chose wrong and followed the wrong people." He told the judge he's much more than just a man involved in the drug trade.
"I'm a father, a husband, a friend and a coach," he said, having coached softball and baseball teams in the Dixie Youth league in Gautier. "I am and was more than what you've read of men on that crime."
Payton pleaded guilty to a federal drug conspiracy charge.
Ozerden noted the court received letters of support on Payton's behalf. In addition, one of his family friends, Betty Bragg of Gautier, told the judge what he'd done criminally didn't seem to match the man she knew. She said he'd helped her out when a loved one became ill, and she coached with him.
"He's a great man," she said, "and we couldn't ask for a better person." Still, Bragg admitted, she could kick Payton in the "butt" for what he'd done criminally because "he knew better."
Prior to imposing the sentence, Ozerden pointed out Payton played a "leadership role" in the drug case that also resulted in indictments against Michael Wayne "Swisha" Hanzik Jr., 27, of Pascagoula, and Scott Joseph Houska, 48, and Demario Antwon Neal, 24, both of Gautier.
A DEA agent confirmed Tuesday that Neal was also accused in the same meth conspiracy. He has been indicted on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth and possession with intent to distribute meth.
Houska and Hanzik have pleaded guilty to charges in the case. Houska is serving a 14- 1/2 year sentence and Hanzik is awaiting sentencing. Neal has not entered a plea.
Based on Payton's criminal history, Ozerden said, "he seems to have no respect of the law" and is a "threat to public safety."
"The court recognizes he has made some positive contributions to the community," Ozerden said. "It's unfortunate he chose the path he did."
In addition to the 280-month prison term, the judge fined Payton $5,000 and ordered him to serve five years under post-release supervision. He also has to pay a $100 special assessment fee
.
Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics investigated the case.
The investigation began after authorities received a tip about Hanzik distributing meth in Jackson County.
As the investigation progressed, authorities arrested Hanzik on March 24 in a traffic stop in Jackson County that resulted in the seizure of a bag of meth from his mouth and more meth hidden in tennis balls in his car. At Hanzik's home, authorities seized $3,923 in suspected drug money and meth shipped to him via the mail March 20.
As part his work to broker the meth deals in Jackson County, Payton arranged similar shipments from around Fresno, Calif., authorities said. In addition, 14 pounds of the ice that arrived in Jackson County to sell was brokered by Payton, the judge noted.
On March 17, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office intercepted one of the shipments bound for Hanzik's home. The package contained a pound of ice.
Authorities arrested both Houska and Payton in April after drug agents learned Payton was driving to Jackson County from Atlanta.
The investigation is ongoing. Authorities are working to identify those supplying the meth to sell in Mississippi.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Shundral Cole prosecuted the case
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