CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Following a two-day trial in United States District Court, a jury convicted Jamaal Parker, also known as “MoneyMaal,” 37 of Chattanooga, of conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and 28 grams or more of cocaine base (“crack”), maintaining and using a drug premise, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Sentencing is set for October 14, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. in United States District Court before United States District Judge Travis R. McDonough, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Parker faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and up to a maximum of life in prison.
The evidence presented at trial showed that Parker and others trafficked kilogram quantities of cocaine from a source of supply in Atlanta, Georgia, and distributed cocaine and cocaine base from a residence on Hoyt Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The investigation culminated with the March 2019 arrest of Parker, in which he was found in possession of 4 kilograms of cocaine and a loaded firearm.
U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton of the Eastern District of Tennessee; and J. Todd Scott, Special Agent in Charge of Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) Louisville Field Division made the announcement.
Law enforcement agencies participating in the joint investigation which led to indictment and subsequent conviction of Parker included the DEA Chattanooga Resident Office, DEA Atlanta Field Division, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Chattanooga Field Office, Chattanooga Police Department, and Georgia State Patrol. Numerous agencies from the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force assisted in the investigation.
The investigation was conducted as part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s drug supply reduction strategy. OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multi-level attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s drug supply.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin T. Brown and Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Winne represented the United States at trial.
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