Drug trafficking ringleader sentenced to 9 years in prison

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The ringleader of a group that trafficked drugs in Dane County from Texas was sentenced to nine years in federal prison.

Donald Spivey, 43, Spring, Texas, was sentenced for conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. He pleaded guilty to this charge on Oct. 27, 2025.

According to the court records, on Nov. 30, 2021, an inspector from the United States Postal Inspection Service intercepted a suspicious parcel sent from Houston, Texas, to an address in Verona, which was associated with Spivey. The inspector searched the parcel pursuant to a federal warrant and found approximately two kilograms of cocaine.

As the investigation continued, law enforcement officers identified an apartment in Sun Prairie, where Spivey stored his drugs. On April 6, 2023, investigators obtained a search warrant for the apartment and seized approximately two kilograms of cocaine, $5,160 in cash, multiple cell phones, a heat sealer, shipping materials, a digital scale and a drug press. Numerous text messages on Spivey’s phones revealed his involvement in drug trafficking.

Spivey waived his rights and admitted to mailing the two kilograms of cocaine seized on Nov. 30, 2021. Spivey further confessed to regularly trafficking cocaine from Texas to Wisconsin.

As part of the investigation, investigators also searched the residences of coconspirators Shelby Longino and Darnold Thomas. Inside Longino’s house, investigators found 183 grams of fentanyl pills, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and $22,878 in cash. During the search of Thomas’s house, investigators seized two kilograms of methamphetamine.

At Spivey’s sentencing, Judge William M. Conley noted Spivey was responsible for bringing a significant amount of cocaine into the community. He found that a lengthy sentence was warranted.

On Aug. 29, 2025, Thomas pleaded guilty to possessing with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Conley sentenced Thomas to 90 months in prison on Dec. 11, 2025.

On July 31, 2025, Longino pleaded guilty to possessing with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl. Conley sentenced Longino to five years in prison on Oct. 29, 2025.