Homeland Security Task Force yields 27-year prison sentence for Hardee County methamphetamine trafficker

Date: July 16, 2026

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Tampa, FL - Herbert Battle Jr. (Hardee County) has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Virgina M. Hernandez Covington to 27 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute over 500 grams of methamphetamine. Battle pleaded guilty on Aug. 19, 2025.United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.

According to court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, Battle oversaw a drug trafficking conspiracy in which he and others smuggled methamphetamine, hidden in packages in the mail, from California to the Tampa area. At its height, the conspirators received up to 20 pounds of high-purity methamphetamine per week. Battle, whose criminal history dates to 1989, has a 2018 federal drug conviction for conspiracy to distribute heroin.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Stoia.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.