Florida Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Distributing Fentanyl in Georgia, Enough to Kill Entire Brunswick Community

Larry B. Taylor, a 59-year-old man from Jacksonville, Florida, was sentenced to 180 months (15 years) in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to possess and distribute fentanyl, enough to kill every resident of Brunswick, Georgia. Taylor was one of 76 individuals indicted in Operation Ghost Busted, a large-scale investigation into drug trafficking and gang activity in south Georgia. U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood also sentenced Taylor to three years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term.

The case was part of a broader effort to dismantle a drug trafficking operation that flooded Glynn County with illegal narcotics, including fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, and alprazolam. Taylor, who was a central figure in the conspiracy, is responsible for distributing over three kilograms of fentanyl—an amount that, according to authorities, could have killed the entire population of Brunswick, Georgia, which is around 16,000 people.

U.S. Attorney Jill E. Steinberg remarked on the case, noting that overdoses in the Brunswick area sharply declined following Taylor’s arrest, underscoring the direct impact of his actions on public health. “The investigation and prosecution in Operation Ghost Busted not only holds criminal behavior accountable but also demonstrably saves lives,” said Steinberg.

Taylor’s criminal history includes more than 50 arrests, with at least 10 prior felony convictions. He also has a lengthy history of violating parole or supervised release conditions, having been arrested for parole violations on at least eight separate occasions.

The investigation into Taylor and his co-conspirators was initiated in 2020 after authorities noticed a significant increase in drug overdoses and deaths in the Glynn County area. This prompted law enforcement agencies, including the FBI Coastal Georgia Violent Gang Task Force, the Glynn County Police Department, and the Brunswick Police Department, to team up and investigate the distribution network. Their efforts uncovered a vast criminal enterprise operating both inside and outside Georgia’s prisons, with gang members from groups such as the Ghost Face Gangsters, Aryan Brotherhood, and other violent street gangs coordinating drug distribution, sometimes with the assistance of corrupt prison guards.

The indictment and subsequent convictions were part of a larger effort by Operation Ghost Busted to address the surge in fentanyl and other illegal drugs in south Georgia. Taylor’s role as the primary fentanyl distributor to the conspiracy highlighted the severity of the operation and the risk it posed to public safety.

Operation Ghost Busted remains one of the largest drug trafficking prosecutions in the history of the Southern District of Georgia, with 73 of the 76 indicted defendants already sentenced to prison terms, some of which could last life. The operation, which was led by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), was a multi-agency effort, including participation from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), U.S. Marshals, the Georgia Department of Corrections, and numerous local law enforcement agencies.