A Mississippi County man arrested in White County on drug and firearm charges in 2019 was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Wednesday on one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
Christopher Martell McDaniel, 22, of Blytheville, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance on June 2 before U.S. District Court Judge Billy Roy Wilson in exchange for the government's agreement to dismiss a count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime.
McDaniel was arrested Dec. 11, 2019, by Judsonia police following a traffic stop after police discovered three bundles containing nearly seven pounds of methamphetamine and a loaded AK-47 rifle inside the vehicle in which he was riding. Also arrested was the driver of the vehicle, 20-year-old Antonio Terrell Jacoby, also of Blytheville.
Jacoby, who is currently free on bond, was also named in the indictment on one count each of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possession of a firearm while under felony information. According to the indictment, Jacoby is facing a number of felony charges in Mississippi County Circuit Court.
After questioning McDaniel and determining that the defendant was satisfied with his legal representation, provided by Garry Corrothers of Little Rock, and that he wished to stand by his guilty plea, Wilson spent several moments looking over the pre-sentencing report and sentencing guideline recommendation prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
"I believe the sentence will have to be 120 months," Wilson said, "is that correct?"
"That is the statutory minimum, Your Honor," replied Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Givens.
"Yes, Your Honor," said Corrothers.
"Do you understand that, Mr. McDaniel?" Wilson asked the defendant.
"Yes, Your Honor," McDaniel answered.
Under U.S. statute, the sentencing range for McDaniel's offense is 10 years to life in prison. Wilson noted that the sentencing range calculation from the U.S. Probation Office, based upon the offense level and McDaniel's criminal history, came to a range of 120 to 121 months.
"In view of the fact that I'm bound to give him 120 months," Wilson said, "is there any reason I should go through all the steps?"
"I don't believe so," Corrothers said. "I've gone over the sentencing structure, etc., with Mr. McDaniel a couple of times so I think he understands the process."
"What do you say, Mr. Givens?" the judge asked.
"If you have confidence that Mr. McDaniel is competent to proceed, is satisfied with his lawyer throughout the process, does not wish to withdraw his guilty plea, that he has gone over the pre-sentence report and has no objections to it, and that includes agreeing that the guideline sentence range calculated with the third level off for acceptance is 120 to 121 months with a criminal history category of 1 and an offense level of 29 and he understands what the sentencing range is, I believe we can go forward," Givens said. "I don't believe there's any request for a variance or departure from that range and I do believe that both parties are asking for it to be a 120 month sentence."
"That's kind of a long answer," said Wilson, dryly.
"I'm just trying to make sure we have all the steps in place," said Givens, with a laugh.
Corrothers, noting that McDaniel is currently in state custody with charges pending in Mississippi County Circuit Court, asked that Wilson order his client's sentence to run concurrent with any other sentence he might receive.
"I don't object," Givens said, "but I believe it is up to the state to run its sentence concurrent with the federal sentence. I didn't know if he had already been sentenced in the state or not yet. Since he is not, I think you can put it in the judgement but it's up to the state and the state can run it consecutively if it wants. Right now, there's no sentence for you to run it concurrent with."
"To the extent that I have the authority to run it concurrent I'll do that and the state can do what the state does," Wilson said.
In addition to the 10-year sentence, Wilson ordered McDaniel to serve five years on supervised release once he leaves prison.