Five indicted in Tallapoosa County operation

The United State Department of Justice has indicted five individuals stemming from an operation in Tallapoosa County.

Acting United States Attorney Jonathan S. Ross said the individuals were indicted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhood cases in the county.

23-year-old Alan Lyrenski Sandlin, of Alexander City, pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a machine gun in federal court.

According to the plea agreement and other court records, in April 2023, law enforcement agents conducting a narcotics investigation arrested Sandlin at his residence. When searching the house, agents found a machine gun conversion device installed on a handgun.

Machine gun conversion devices allow a firearm to operate as a fully automatic weapon, firing up to 20 rounds per second.

Sandlin entered his guilty plea on October 30, 2023. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 20, 2024. At that hearing, Sandlin will face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. There is no parole in the federal system.

42-year-old Jeremy Glenn Dye, of Alexander City, was a sentenced to 130 months in prison for possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony offense and for possession a stolen firearm.

Lastly, three Tallapoosa County residents were recently charged with federal firearm offenses. On November 1, 2023, a grand jury indicted Vincent Darrell Bias, 54, of Alexander City, Alabama, for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Law enforcement arrested Bias on November 15, 2023. Previously, in June 2023, the same grand jury indicted 44-year-old Jeffery Monkentee Hill and 33-year-old Carstavious Shadon Stovall, both from Camp Hill, Alabama, on charges of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a controlled substance crime, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

The Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force and the ATF investigated these cases, with assistance from the Alexander City Police Department, the Tallapoosa County Sheriff’s Office, the Coosa County Sheriff’s Office, and the United States Marshals Service. Assistant United States Attorneys Brandon W. Bates and Eric M. Counts are prosecuting the cases.