Two women have been sentenced to prison for their involvement in a drug trafficking operation based in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Federal law enforcement began investigating large-scale drug activity at Lux Auto in Newport News around June 2021. Authorities found that members of the conspiracy used the business to store illegal drugs in vehicles parked on the premises. The investigation led to charges against 37 individuals as part of a 127-count indictment filed on September 11, 2023.
Amanda Bell, age 24, acted as both a courier and distributor for the group, selling marijuana and fentanyl pills. According to law enforcement records, she sold more than 40 grams of fentanyl during multiple controlled transactions. Bell also transported large sums of money between Virginia and California for the organization’s activities. On March 3, 2022, she was stopped en route to California with a suitcase containing over $35,000 intended for marijuana trafficking.
Bell pleaded guilty on April 26 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. She was sentenced on November 25 to five years and ten months in prison.
Farrah Fair, also known as “10K Fay,” age 26, served as a courier by transporting marijuana in checked suitcases between California and Virginia using commercial flights. Fair pleaded guilty on January 14 to use of a communication facility in furtherance of drug trafficking. She received a sentence of two years and six months in prison on November 25.
Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Dominique Evans, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, announced the sentences following proceedings before U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric M. Hurt, Alyson C. Yates, and Luke Bresnahan prosecuted the case.
The prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America—a national initiative designed by the Department of Justice that brings together resources from its Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) with the goal of protecting communities from violent crime perpetrators.
