In a stunning blow to organized crime, Zachery Joseph Cooley, a 35-year-old resident of Quitman, Mississippi, was sentenced to 295 months’ imprisonment for his involvement in a complex conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine ice in the Southern District of Alabama.
According to court records, Cooley was convicted by a jury on June 29, 2017, after a trial conducted by United States District Court Judge Callie V. S. Granade. The evidence presented during the trial showed that Cooley was responsible for the distribution of at least 3 kilograms of methamphetamine ice during the time the conspiracy was active.
Cooley sold methamphetamine ice to confidential informants working for authorities, and was arrested in possession of the drug on multiple occasions. In two of those instances, he was found in possession of a firearm, which further exacerbated his charges. Furthermore, Cooley has three prior convictions for a crime of domestic violence, rendering his possession of a firearm illegal under federal law.
During the trial, the evidence also showed that Cooley possessed at least one gun in furtherance of the drug distribution conspiracy. This egregious display of violence and disregard for the law ultimately led to Cooley’s downfall.
On this afternoon, Judge Granade sentenced Cooley to 295 months’ imprisonment, which consisted of 120 months on the two charges of illegal possession of a firearm, and 235 months on the drug counts. She ordered that all those sentences would run concurrently. For the count charging that the possession of the gun furthered the drug conspiracy, Cooley was sentenced to 60 months consecutive to the other sentences for a total of 295 months.
Cooley will serve 5 years of supervised release when he is released from custody, and the judge also ordered that he pay $800 in special mandatory assessments. No fine was imposed. Additionally, Cooley will undergo treatment for drug abuse while in prison and as a condition of his supervised release.
The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security Investigations, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, the Mobile Police Department, and the Mobile County Street Narcotics Enforcement Team. It was prosecuted in the United States Attorney’s Office by Assistant United States Attorney Gloria Bedwell.
Key Facts
- State: Alabama
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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