Armed Crack Dealer Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard today sentenced Joe Terry (38, Jacksonville) to eight years in federal prison for distributing cocaine base and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

Terry pleaded guilty on February 26, 2014.

According to court documents, Terry was selling “crack cocaine” from a house on Cinnamon Tea Lane, in Jacksonville. Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents utilized a confidential informant to make an undercover purchase of “crack cocaine” from Terry.  During that drug transaction, Terry displayed a Glock firearm.  On August 29, 2013, ATF agents executed a federal search warrant at Terry’s residence and recovered a Glock .40 caliber pistol from inside, at which time Terry was arrested. At the time of the arrest, Terry was on parole from Georgia, for a felony drug offense.

This case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Talbot.

It is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy.  United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Trevor Velinor, Acting Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. This is another example of ATF’s Frontline Strategy to impact violent crime in our communities.