Around $1 million in property, funded by drug revenue, was forfeited during the sentencing in federal court in Rome today of a Chattooga County man involved in a drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracy.

The conspiracy ranged throughout Northwest Georgia and into Tennessee, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Alley said it didn’t stop there.

“This was a fairly substantial trafficking organization,” he said. “It’s safe to say this conspiracy ranged throughout extreme Northern Georgia and Tennessee and into California and Mexico.”

Michael Leon Smith forfeited around 40 properties, valued at around $1 million dollars, and was sentenced to 108 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Robert L. Vining Jr.

Smith was also sentenced to five years of supervised release and will not have to surrender to authorities until after January 1, 2009.

Both the defense and the government asked the judge for leniency when sentencing Smith because he has offered testimony that has led to the conviction of other conspirators.