MOBILE, AL – A Mobile man was sentenced on March 2, 2026, by Chief United States District Court Judge Jeffrey Beaverstock to 168 months in prison for trafficking nearly six kilograms of methamphetamine.According to court documents, on July 10, 2025, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office and Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office conducted a joint interdiction operation at the Greyhound bus station located on Government Boulevard, in Mobile, Alabama.During surveillance deputies observed a man, later identified as Lawson, exit the Greyhound bus terminal carrying a duffle bag. When Lawson observed the presence of law enforcement officers, he went back inside the bus station. Deputies continued surveillance of the Lawson and he soon exited the front doors of the bus station again.Deputies next observed Lawson walking down Government Boulevard. As a deputy drove towards Lawson, Lawson ran across two lanes of traffic onto the median.
Deputies followed Lawson to the median to speak with him. During the conversation Lawson placed the duffle bag and the jacket he was wearing on the ground. One of the deputies next asked Lawson about the smell of marijuana coming from his bags. Lawson stepped toward the duffle bag, as if he was going to grab it, but then took off running instead.
After a brief foot pursuit, Lawson was detained.When deputies opened the duffle bag, they observed six large cellophane wrapped bundles of what appeared to be methamphetamine. A deputy read Lawson Miranda warnings and Lawson agreed to speak with deputies. Lawson stated he was coming from Houston, Texas and that he did not purchase the narcotics for someone else but rather purchased it for himself and paid $21,000 in US currency for it. The six bundles were sent to the DEA Laboratory in Miami, Florida and were found to contain 5,973 grams of 97% pure methamphetamine.The case was investigated by the Gulf of America Homeland Security Task Force which in this case included law enforcement officers from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office and the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office.Assistant U.S.
Attorney George F. May prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Homeland Security Task Forces (HSTF) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).In making the announcement, United States Attorney Sean P. Costello stated that the Homeland Security Task Forces represent a new gold standard model in law enforcement which combines the expertise of numerous agencies under one roof to maximize the impact on crime and the safety to the community.