Keith Antonio Barnett, Drug Conspiracy, North Carolina 2024

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A convicted sex offender has been found guilty on drug conspiracy and related charges in a federal trial in North Carolina, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray for the Western District of North Carolina.

Keith Antonio Barnett, 46, of Gastonia, N.C., was convicted by a federal jury of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine, distribution and possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, crack cocaine, and heroin.

The evidence presented at trial established that Barnett was part of a drug conspiracy operating in Gaston County, beginning from at least 2016. The trial evidence also established that Barnett was responsible for trafficking more than 280 grams of crack cocaine during the relevant time period.

In October 2017, law enforcement arrested Barnett and recovered more than 120 grams of crack cocaine, over 40 grams of cocaine, more than six grams of heroin, and approximately $3,000 in cash from a residence being used as a drug house in Gaston County.

Barnett has a prior criminal history that includes two convictions for Possession of Crack Cocaine in 1991, Indecent Liberties with a Child in 1997, Criminal Domestic Violence of a High and Aggravated Nature in 2006, Failure to Register as a Sex Offender in 2010, and Failure to Register as a Sex Offender in 2013.

The prosecution is part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a joint federal, state, and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking. U.S. Attorney Murray credited the FBI and HSI in Charlotte for their investigation of this case, and thanked the Gastonia Police Department and Gaston County Police Department for their invaluable assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven R. Kaufman and Sanjeev Bhasker are in charge of the prosecution. Barnett faces a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison and a fine of up to $20 million at sentencing, which has not yet been set.

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