BINGHAMTON – The United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, announced that Ralph Parkes, 57, of 3106 Route 26, Glen Aubrey, New York, was sentenced Tuesday by

Senior United States District Court Judge Thomas McAvoy in United States District Court, Binghamton, to a term of imprisonment of four years and two months.

Parkes previously pled guilty to the felony crime of conspiracy to possess and distribute methamphetamine.  In addition to the prison sentence, Parkes was sentenced to serve a three year term of supervised release following completion of his prison term.

Parkes was the last of the original six defendants charged in December of 2006 as a result of a lengthy investigation dubbed "Operation Crystal Apple".

"Operation Crystal Apple" was a lengthy investigation into the interstate trafficking of multi-kilogram quantities of crystal methamphetamine.  The investigation was conducted by local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, including the New York State Police,  City of Binghamton Police Department, the  Broome County Sheriff's Office, the Town of Vestal Police Department, the Village of Endicott Police Department, the Village of Johnson City Police Department, the Broome County District Attorney's Office, the New York State National Guard, the United States Postal Service, the U.S. Secret Service, the United States Attorney's Office in the Northern District of New York, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.