Motorcycle gang member, woman convicted in Baldwin County drug-and-gun case

MOBILE, Al.
A federal jury here last week convicted a motorcycle gang member from Foley and a woman of charges related to a conspiracy involving more than 100 kilograms of marijuana.

Johnny Blake Clanton

According to testimony at the trial, Johnny Blake Clanton, 33, was a member of the Outlaw Motorcycle Club. The jury convicted him of being an unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm but acquitted him of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and two counts of using a cell phone to facilitate the conspiracy.
The jury convicted Loverne Bollwage Blackledge, 47, of Gulf Shores, of the conspiracy and facilitation charges.

U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade ordered the acquittal of a third defendant, Joel Charles Anthenat, ruling that prosecutors had not presented enough evidence against him to send the charges to a jury.
U.S. Attorney Kenyen Brown and FBI Special Agent in Charge Lewis M. Chapman praised the guilty verdicts.

Loverne Bollwage Blackledge

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work with law enforcement in an effort to disrupt and dismantle gangs and organized crime in this area,” Brown said in a prepared statement, which called the defendants “thugs.”
Foley police followed Blackledge in April from Affordable Auto Repair on Baldwin County 12 to Ala. 59, where they found 2.5 ounces of marijuana in her truck. The resulting investigation led to convictions of the business owner, his wife, daughter and four others — including two illegal immigrants from Mexico.
A search of Clanton’s home turned up drug paraphernalia, small amounts of marijuana and three guns, according to testimony.