Tifton Man Who Led Police on High-Speed Chase Sentenced to Prison for Trafficking Heroin to South Central Georgia

DOJ Press

VALDOSTA, Ga. –  A Tifton, Georgia, resident was sentenced to twelve and a half years in prison resulting from his role actively trafficking large quantities of heroin into South Central Georgia from sources in metro Atlanta.

Joshua Gannon Deanda, 24, was sentenced to serve 150 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson on June 21 after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin. There is no parole in the federal system.

“Repeat felons caught distributing deadly opioids will be held accountable for their criminal actions, which gravely harm people and the overall well-being of our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “Federal, state and local agencies successfully stopped the flow of narcotics into South Central Georgia from this active illegal drug pipeline. Their continued good work is making a difference.”

“This poly-drug trafficker brazenly continued his drug trafficking activities despite having a prior felony conviction,” said Robert J. Murphy, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division.  “Hopefully this arrest will send a clear message to him and others who may choose to follow this same perilous path: DEA and its law enforcement partners will relentlessly pursue and ultimately prosecute drug traffickers.”


According to court documents, DEA agents worked with a Cooperating Source (CS) in October 2020 that named Deanda as a courier and distributor of a large shipment of drugs from Atlanta to Tifton containing one or two kilograms of heroin and approximately two kilograms of methamphetamine. Under investigation, Deanda was monitored on Nov. 5, 2020, traveling from his home in Tifton to Atlanta, where he stopped for a short period of time. On his return trip to Tifton, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies attempted to pull Deanda over for a traffic violation at a weigh station on I-75. Deanda briefly stopped his vehicle, but he did not exit the vehicle when commanded. Instead, he drove away; during the pursuit, Deanda reached speeds in excess of 100 mph. Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies conducted a maneuver to stop Deanda’s vehicle, which collided with several objects and stopped. Deanda and a passenger fled the scene but were later apprehended.


Agents and investigators found two semiautomatic guns inside Deanda’s wrecked vehicle, both stolen at different times out of Tift County, Georgia. A search of the nearby area where Deanda fled resulted in agents finding a bag containing 267.4 grams of pure methamphetamine, a digital scale, packaging materials, a black tray and an extended capacity magazine. The top bullet in the extended magazine matched the ammunition that was seized from the Glock pistol inside of Deanda’s vehicle. Agents also found various cell phone photos and text messages corroborating the found contraband and illegal drug trafficking activities.

Agents subsequently executed a search warrant at Deanda’s residence, finding a block of 350.97 grams of heroin. Additional quantities of heroin and methamphetamine were found, along with a handgun, a sawed-off shotgun and an SKS-type semi-automatic rifle with an obliterated serial number.

Deanda has a prior felony conviction and had an active warrant for his arrest at the time of the incident.

The case was investigated by the DEA and the Mid-South Narcotics Task Force (MSNTF), with assistance from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Kalim prosecuted the case.

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