Seven members of a local cocaine-dealing "enterprise" were charged Thursday with offenses that could keep them all locked up for life.

The U.S. Attorney's office has filed 26 felony counts against the Lancaster-based Plowden Drug Trafficking Organization, officials said.

Six of the accused are brothers from two separate families, officials said, while the seventh defendant is a "career offender." All the alleged dealers lived in Lancaster County.

Charged are brothers Dominique, Donald, James and Michael Plowden; brothers Harold and Thaddeus Ramirez; and Anwar Smith.

Together, officials allege, the organization sold large quantities of cocaine and marijuana in Lancaster and other areas. They were charged with making transactions between 2003 and 2008.

In that time, officials said, the ring sold more than $20 million in drugs, and most of the transactions happened in Lancaster County.

According to a 36-page indictment, the ring's drug of choice was crack cocaine. Dominique Plowden, the group's alleged leader, set up powder cocaine buys from sources in Texas and elsewhere. The group would then traffic the materials to Lancaster and process them into crack cocaine.

Dominique Plowden "supervised and managed an organization that had more than five members, sold drugs for more than four years and received substantial income and resources," the indictment says.

Smith, 23, faces a mandatory life prison term because of two prior felony drug convictions, officials said.

Donald Plowden, 32, and the Ramirez brothers all face mandatory 15-year prison terms, officials said, and Michael Plowden, 34, and James Plowden, 31, face mandatory 10-year sentences.

At the maximum, all seven could face life sentences.

The Plowdens told buyers their operation provided "one-stop shopping" for illegal drugs, according to the indictment. The Plowdens promised they sold "the best quality" drugs and that they were a "family operation," the indictment says.

"This was a toxic family alliance between two circles of brothers and an associate who, we allege, were spreading cocaine, crack and marijuana throughout the streets of Lancaster," United States Attorney Laurie Magid said Thursday.

The organization members carried guns and were willing to "protect their inventory at any cost," Magid said.

The indictment indicates Donald Plowden was the main runner of the drugs. He was charged with making 14 separate sales of crack cocaine, including six that were allegedly made 1,000 feet of Ross Elementary School or Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster city.

Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman previously prosecuted Donald Plowden in a local drug case. His office also was involved in the recent charges, which were part of the 222 Corridor Anti-Gang Initiative.

"We are extremely indebted to the U.S. Attorney's Office for its work in this case," Stedman said. "Time and time again, the U.S. Attorney's office has removed armed drug dealers from our streets … and absolutely helps us in the fight to keep our streets safe from drug operations like the Plowden Drug Trafficking Organization."

E-mail: bhambright@lnpnews.com