KATRENA BOWMANFacing drug charges

Local and federal law enforcement officials arrested four Bowling Green residents Thursday on federal drug charges after an investigation into cocaine trafficking that had previously led to five other arrests.

Robert Mitchell “Herman” Martin, 46, Trebor Kashan Patterson, 30, Katrena Yvette Bowman, 34, and Jason Alan Dixon, 36, were each named in a seven-count federal indictment and arrested Thursday.

Each has been charged with conspiring to distribute more than 50 grams of crack cocaine and more than 500 grams of cocaine.

Martin is charged additionally with three counts of aiding and abetting distribution of 105 grams or more of crack cocaine, while Patterson and Bowman also each have been charged with distribution of cocaine.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and officers from the Bowling Green-Warren County Drug Task Force, South Central Kentucky Drug Task Force, Kentucky State Police, Bowling Green Police Department and Warren County Sheriff’s Office took part in the 18-month investigation, dubbed “Operation Shockwave” by law enforcement.

The group made initial court appearances Friday morning at U.S. District Court in Louisville. The federal grand jury handed down indictments in the case Wednesday that were unsealed two days later.

“We were pleased with the progress of the investigation and we appreciate the cooperative work of all the agencies involved,” said Supervisory Special Agent Kevin Kelm, resident agent in charge at the ATF’s Louisville Field Division.

Officers seized crack cocaine, powder cocaine, marijuana and several ounces of anabolic steroids while making arrests.

Two handguns, 130 rounds of ammunition, two cars, two flat-screen TVs and more than $17,000 in cash were seized, according to the ATF.

A fifth person, Nathaniel Antonio “Duball” Martin, 35, of Bowling Green, was named in Wednesday’s indictment, though the ATF arrested him March 16.

According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court, Nathaniel Martin sold crack cocaine to a confidential informant on three occasions between October and December 2008.

Federal agents executed a search warrant on Martin’s residence on March 16, seizing a .38-caliber revolver, 109 rounds of ammunition, marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Nathaniel Martin told law enforcement at the time that he stopped selling cocaine after his supplier was killed two years before, and that he had been selling a substance that looked like cocaine since then.

He has been charged with one count of conspiring to distribute more than 50 grams of crack cocaine and more than 500 grams of cocaine, four counts of aiding and abetting distribution of 155 grams or more of crack cocaine and one count each of distribution of cocaine and felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents, the investigation into Nathaniel Martin arose from information provided to law enforcement by defendants charged in connection with the 2006 investigation of Fadz-4-Dayz, a Russellville Road barber shop that doubled as the location of a crack cocaine distribution operation.

Eleven people were convicted of firearms and drug trafficking offenses in that investigation.

Other people charged in connection with “Operation Shockwave” are Steven Lamont Lowe, 35, Carla Criswell, 27, Dalton Morrow, 30, and Jason Matthew Gatewood, 31, all of Bowling Green.

Lowe and Criswell, who lived together, were arrested Nov. 4. Lowe has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to drug trafficking and two counts of possession with intent to deliver crack cocaine, while Criswell, who was a teacher at Bowling Green Junior High School, pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony. Misprision refers to concealing knowledge of a crime, but not participating in it.

They are scheduled to be sentenced May 24.

Morrow, who was arrested Dec. 9, has been charged with five counts of possession with intent to deliver crack cocaine. Gatewood, who was arrested Feb. 3, has been charged with one count each of trafficking in crack cocaine, using a firearm in a drug trafficking crime and convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Their cases are pending.