Carlton Shoemaker, Selling Methamphetamine, Florida 2025

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA - A notorious Pensacola resident has been convicted of distributing deadly drugs in the community.

Carlton Shoemaker, 51, of Pensacola, Florida, pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Court documents reveal that Shoemaker sold methamphetamine and cocaine from a motel room in Pensacola, Florida. When law enforcement executed a search warrant at Shoemaker’s motel room in May 2025, officers located cocaine, marijuana, two firearms, ammunition, and other items indicative of drug distribution.

Shoemaker is a convicted felon and has multiple prior convictions, including Burglary, Grand Theft, Possession of Cocaine, and Grand Theft of a Firearm.

Shoemaker faces up to life imprisonment. Sentencing is scheduled for December 11, 2025, at 10:00 am at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola before United States District Judge T. Kent Wetherell, II.

The case involved a joint investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jessica S. Etherton and Christopher Patterson.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the government to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General.

Shoemaker is a career criminal who has been removed from the streets and will face severe consequences for his actions. The community is safer with one fewer drug trafficker flooding our streets with deadly drugs.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl/pr/convicted-felon-pleads-guilty-distributing-drugs-while-armed