Baltimore Man Sentenced 10 Years In Federal Prison For Possession With Intent To Distribute Over 5KG Of Cocaine
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Baltimore felon was sentenced to federal prison for possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.
Jovon Lee, 41, of Baltimore, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.
A federal jury convicted Lee on May 8, 2019, after a three-day trial.
According to evidence presented at Lee's trial, on October 3, 2018, law enforcement recorded a call between Lee and a DEA confidential source posing as a Mexican cartel drug trafficker.
During the call, Lee used coded language to arrange to purchase heroin and cocaine from the confidential source, and agreed to have a face-to-face meeting.
On October 9, 2018, the source and Lee exchanged messages and agreed to meet on October 12, 2018, at a mall in McLean, Virginia.
On Oct. 12, Lee and the source met at the agreed-upon location. During the meeting, Lee requested as many kilograms of cocaine as he could get but said that he would need the cocaine on consignment because he didn't have money.
Lee and the source negotiated a price of $25,500 per kilogram of cocaine. After several other calls and messages, Lee agreed to purchase three kilograms of cocaine and to receive four more kilograms on consignment.
On October 24, 2018, Lee and the source met at a hotel in Hanover. Lee was carrying a white shopping bag with money, which he showed to the source in the hotel lobby, expecting to receive seven kilograms of cocaine.
The source and Lee left the hotel and walked to an undercover vehicle. On the back seat was a brown designer backpack that contained six kilograms of cocaine and one kilogram of sham cocaine. Lee inspected the cocaine in the backpack, placed the shopping bag of cash on the back seat of the vehicle, took the backpack, and walked away.
Law enforcement officers then arrested Lee. The shopping bag was found to contain $75,000 in cash, not the $76,500 that had been negotiated.
