Four-Time Drug Kingpin Daniels Sentenced to 292 Months

Atlanta – The grim reaper of the streets, Mekael Desean Daniels, a four-time convicted drug trafficker, has been handed down a 292-month sentence for his relentless dealing of cocaine and fentanyl. The courtroom was silent as U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg declared, “Despite three prior federal convictions for drug trafficking, Daniels continued to distribute vast quantities of narcotics in our community and attempted to launder drug money.”

On the day of his arrest at a Buckhead-area condominium building, Daniels was caught with 110 kilograms of cocaine and 62 grams of fentanyl. He was attempting to deliver $600,000 to money launderers tied to a transnational drug trafficking organization. This brazen attempt to continue his criminal enterprise came just one year after his release from federal prison for prior convictions.

“Daniels was a repeat offender fueling the flow of deadly drugs into our communities,” said Paul Brown, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI and our partners will continue to dismantle these networks and hold traffickers accountable.”

The investigation revealed that Daniels had conspired with others to transport cocaine and fentanyl from Mexico to Atlanta. His condominium in Buckhead served as a stash house for his network, where he stored the drugs and documented $500,000 in transactions.

This is Daniels’s fourth federal drug trafficking conviction in this district after prior convictions for possession with intent to distribute cocaine in 1995 and 2000 and for possession with intent to distribute heroin in 2012. His career criminal history includes possessing a firearm while he was a convicted felon.

United States District Judge Steven D. Grimberg sentenced Daniels, 55, of Dallas, Georgia, to serve 24 years, 4 months in prison followed by a lifetime sentence of supervised release. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Federal Bureau of Investigation, with Assistant United States Attorneys Elizabeth M. Hathaway and Austin M. Hall, and former Assistant United States Attorney Joshua May, prosecuting.”