STATESBORO — A federal indictment has been returned charging seven Bryan County residents, along with seven others from South Georgia, with conspiring to traffic methamphetamine, heroin, oxycodone and other drugs, according to a news release issued Monday.

If convicted of the drug trafficking conspiracy charge, the defendants face a maximum of 20 years in prison and a potential $1 million fine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia.

The majority of the defendants made their initial appearances last week in federal court in Statesboro.

The federal indictment, unsealed last week and returned by a federal grand jury sitting in Savannah in June, charged the following seven Bryan County defendants:
• Timothy Wayne Davis, 49, of Ellabell,
• Christopher Gage Floyd, 21, of Pembroke,
• Casandra Rae Hendrix, 24, of Ellabell,
• Kenneth Jordan Lane, 24, of Pembroke,
• Scott Lamont Pointer, 35, of Ellabell,
• Jeffery James Taylor, 28, of Ellabell, and
• Jeremy Nicholas Taylor, 27, of Ellabell.

The other seven indicted are from Bulloch, Effingham, Liberty and Tattnall counties.

The charges resulted from a joint federal-state investigation by the Drug Enforcement Agency, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Bryan County Sheriff’s Office, Effingham County Sheriff’s Office, Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team, Statesboro-Bulloch Crime Suppression Team, Richmond Hill Police Department and Pembroke Police Department. Assistance was also provided by the Rincon Police Department and the United States Marshals Service.

U.S. Attorney Edward Tarver emphasized that indictments are only accusations and are not evidence of guilt. The defendants are entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.