Two Brownsboro women have been sentenced to a combined 123 months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit more than $95,000 after they each pled guilty to drug charges, U.S. Attorney John M. Bales announced in a press release.

Tara Jean Oney-Hicks, 49, pled guilty on Aug. 13, 2009, to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced to 27 months by U.S. District Judge Leonard E. Davis. Oney-Hicks was also ordered to forfeit $20,000.

Connie Marie Payne, 32, pled guilty on July 29, 2009, to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute meth and was sentenced to 96 months by Davis. She agreed to a forfeiture judgment of $75,000.

According to information presented in court, from April 2008 to April 2009, Payne and Oney- Hicks possessed meth with the intent to distribute it in the Longview area. A federal grand jury returned indictments on May 6, 2009, charging the two women and seven others with federal drug trafficking crimes.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office, the Canton Police Department, and the Dallas Police Department Gang Unit and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard L. Moore.