BY GWEN ALBERS/MANAGING EDITOR
gwen.albers@tidewaternews.com

NORFOLK—Five area men have pleaded guilty to operating a drug ring that federal and local officials investigated for two years.

Facing a mandatory 10 years in prison and up to life when they are sentenced in U.S. District Court in Norfolk are Alexander Howard Olds, 22, and Jovar Smith, 22, both of Franklin, and Torrance Jamar Bowers, 23, of Ivor.

Facing a mandatory 15 years in prison and up to life are Dominique Raeshawn Kindred, 20, and Brandon De’Shun Cary, 26, both of Franklin.

The criminal complaint named Kindred the leader of a drug trafficking organization started in 2007 when he was 16. The ring was busted on July 6 after the suspects allegedly had sold crack cocaine, powder cocaine and marijuana on more than 30 occasions to informants since June 2009. Of the nine informants, some represented the FBI and Franklin Police.

Sales took place from vehicles driven by the suspects, including a Cadillac, Honda and Mercedes-Benz and from a home on Pearl Street and apartment on Forest Pine Road, both in Franklin, according to the criminal complaint. The complaint also indicated drugs were sold to younger individuals.

Olds and Kindred were the last to enter guilty pleas, doing so on Thursday. Cary entered a plea on Wednesday, Bowers on Aug. 4 and Smith on July 28.

All admitted to conspiring to distribute 280 grams or more of crack cocaine. Cary and Kindred also pleaded guilty to possession of a gun while trafficking drugs, which calls for a mandatory five years in prison.

A judge will sentence Smith at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 31, Bowers at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 14, Cary at 10 a.m. Nov. 21, Kindred at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 21 and Olds at 10 a.m. Nov. 22 and

This case was investigated by the FBI, Franklin Police Department and Safe Streets Peninsula Task Force.