Photo above shows (l. to r.) Langel, Toney, and Rogers.
Three men have been sentenced to a combined 29 years in federal prison – one from Benton, Arkansas – for their roles in a major interstate drug-trafficking ring that funneled methamphetamine and cocaine into central Arkansas. The sentencing concludes a multi-year federal investigation that resulted in the conviction of 18 defendants involved in the conspiracy. Read more below.
United States District Judge Lee P. Rudofsky handed down the final three sentences in Little Rock, targeting key distributors and brokers within the organization. Kevin Langel, 54, of Pine Bluff, received a 14-year (168 months) prison sentence; Bruce Smith, 55, of Hesperia, California, was sentenced to 10 years (120 months); and Larry Rogers, 71, of Benton, was sentenced to five years (60 months).
Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced the verdicts. The drug conspiracy, which operated from 2020 through 2022, spanned from California to Texas and into Arkansas, moving significant quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl.
The three sentenced this week were the last of 18 indicted defendants to be convicted following a six-day federal trial that concluded in February 2026.
According to court evidence, Bruce Smith traveled from California to Arkansas multiple times to deliver pounds of methamphetamine to Roderick Toney, 58, of Little Rock, who served as the primary local distributor. Toney was sentenced to 150 months in prison in February 2026 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to deliver methamphetamine and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
During the same period, Larry Rogers brokered multiple kilogram-quantity transactions of cocaine for Toney. Evidence showed that on July 14, 2022, Rogers obtained transaction money from one of Toney’s relatives at a local car wash before meeting Kevin Langel at a business off Geyer Springs Road in Little Rock to secure a kilogram of cocaine, which was then delivered to Toney.
Federal prosecutors proved that Langel was a primary source of supply, trafficking dozens of kilograms of cocaine from Houston and Dallas in late 2022 and early 2023. In one documented transaction, Langel purchased four kilograms of cocaine for $72,800. In determining Langel’s 14-year sentence, Judge Rudofsky took into account Langel’s prior criminal record, which includes convictions for attempted murder and second-degree battery.
Following their prison terms, Langel and Smith will each serve five years of supervised release, while Rogers will serve four years of supervised release.
The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the North Little Rock Police Department, with assistance from the Sherwood Police Department. The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Chris Givens and Amanda Fields. The case was brought under the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative, established by Executive Order 14159 to target transnational criminal organizations and illicit trafficking rings.
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