Judge Orders Mobile Man to Serve 60 Months Prison and to Forfeit $3K in Drug Proceeds
United States Attorney Richard W. Moore of the Southern District of Alabama announces that United States District Court Judge Jeffrey U. Beaverstock sentenced Cornelius Darrell Curtis, on May 20, 2019, to 60 months for the violation of 18 United States Code Section 924(c), Using, Carrying, or Possessing a Firearm During or in Relation to a Drug Trafficking Crime.
On May 2, 2018 members of the Prichard Narcotics Unit made an initial traffic stop of Curtis in the area of Rebel Road and Anderson, in Prichard, Alabama, when they observed him make a right turn onto Main Street without using a turn signal. Curtis was the sole occupant of the vehicle. When officers approached, they noticed several baggies on the front seat. Upon closer examination, officers noted the content of the baggies included marijuana. They also recovered an additional baggie from the center console containing crack cocaine, and more cocaine in Curtis’s hand.
Prichard Police later searched the vehicle and recovered a digital scale with remnants of both cocaine and marijuana residue on it, along with two bottles of codeine syrup in the passenger seat. Officers also recovered a Smith and Wesson .40 caliber handgun and $3,346.00 in cash from the floorboard and passenger seat. As officers continued to search his vehicle, Curtis shouted, “Man that’s all of it, you got all I had.” When asked by the officers how much money he had in his possession, Curtis responded, “About three or four bands.”
Curtis had previous felony convictions from the Circuit Court of Mobile, Alabama for Possession of Controlled Substances; Receiving Stolen Property, Assault and Possession of a Pistol by a Forbidden Person.
The Prichard Police Department, and Bureau of Alcohol Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives, Mobile Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Baugh prosecuted the case for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama at http://www.justice.gov/usao-sdal/.
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