DALLAS, TX — A Dallas man has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for a round-the-clock drug trafficking ring that operated out of a local hotel, federal officials announced Thursday.
The U.S. Attorney's Office Northern District states that Kenneth Ray Peters, 44, was sentenced to 216 months in prison by Senior U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn after pleading guilty in January 2025 to his role in the conspiracy. The charges stem from a long-running drug operation based at the BuZen Suites Hotel on West Northwest Highway in Dallas.
According to court documents, Peters and several co-conspirators ran a drug distribution hub out of multiple hotel rooms, using the space to sell fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, and other drugs.
The operation reportedly ran 24/7, with dealers using digital scales, drug paraphernalia, and makeshift serving stations to fill orders.
Authorities say the group went to great lengths to maintain the operation. A surveillance camera was reportedly installed inside one of the rooms, recording daily operations, while workers were paid to fill fentanyl capsules and prepare other drugs for sale.
Left: Inside the BuZen Suites Hotel were drugs were made and distributed; Right: Cash, drugs, and other drug trade tools in one of the suites
(Credit: US District Attorney's Office, Northern Division)
Peters also admitted that violence was a regular part of the operation, including beatings, pistol-whipping, and an incident where a female customer was burned with a lighter after passing out from drugs she had purchased.
On April 19, 2023, law enforcement executed several search warrants at the hotel. Investigators seized distribution quantities of meth, cocaine (both powder and crack), heroin, fentanyl powder, counterfeit pills, marijuana, and a large cache of weapons, including handguns, an AK-47, an AR-15, body armor, and drug trafficking tools.
Peters is one of several defendants charged and sentenced in the case:
- Derrick Alan Richardson: 54 months (December 2024)
- Antoine Marquin Thompson-Stevens: 108 months (January 2025)
- Keenan Bernard Allen (aka “King”) and Glenn Malcolm Blair (aka “Slim”): 240 months each (March 2025)
- Corey Lanard Allen Jr.: 192 months (May 8, 2025)
The investigation was led by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Dallas Police Department’s Narcotics Unit.
Subscribe to the LIVE! Daily
Required
Post a comment to this article here: