Vegas man charged in drug case

David Kihara

Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005 | 9:48 a.m.

A man suspected of supplying an alleged drug dealer in Hawaii with almost 80 pounds of crystal methamphetamine over a yearlong period will be taken to Hawaii to face charges, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Charles Lee Ranney, Jr., who was arrested on Friday in Las Vegas, allegedly supplied a suspected dealer in Hawaii with 79 pounds of crystal meth starting in mid-July 2004, according to a federal court affidavit.

He appeared for an initial appearance before a federal magistrate in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Natalie Collins, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Las Vegas, declined to comment on when the U.S. Marshals Service will taken Ranney to Hawaii.

Ranney allegedly supplied the methamphetamine to Francis Honda, who was arrested on Sept. 13 in Waipahu, Hawaii, according to the affidavit filed by Gerald Lawson, special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Honda agreed to cooperate with federal authorities and said that Ranney supplied him with methamphetamines since mid-2004, according to the DEA.

Ranney allegedly charged between $16,000 and $20,000 per pound of methamphetamine and would sometimes front the drugs to Honda, according to the DEA.

In the biggest shipment reported by Lawson, Ranney allegedly gave Honda a box containing 40 pounds of meth.

Authorities said Ranney took upwards of 76 pounds of unidentified parcels from a location in the 7500 block of Harbor Pond Drive near Jones Boulevard and Grand Teton Drive, to Hawaii from Feb. 26 to about May 14, according to the affidavit filed by Lawson.

Lawson, however, did not state clearly in his affidavit whether drugs were being transported in the parcels.