December 6, 2007
For more information contact:
Managing Asst. U.S. Attorney Dixie A. Morrow
(850) 444-4000
PENSACOLA MAN CONVICTED IN COCAINE CONSPIRACY
Pensacola, Florida - Gregory R. Miller, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, in conjunction with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Escambia County Sheriffs Office - Narcotics Section (ECSO-Narcotics), announced that Terrence S. Owden, 24, Pensacola, Florida, was found guilty last evening following a three-day federal jury trial.
Owden was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, and possession of a .40 caliber Beretta handgun in furtherance of illegal drug trafficking activity. The evidence at trial included the testimony of a cooperating witness; video surveillance of an undercover meeting involving Owden and the transfer of three (3) kilograms of cocaine; consensually monitored calls of drug related conversations involving Owden and co-conspirators in Florida and Georgia; and the fruits of a DEA and ECSO-Narcotics search warrant of Owden’s residence. At the residence, officers discovered a concealed “drug processing room” secured by electronic surveillance equipment, firearms and ammunition, electronic and hand held scales, drug packaging material, and “cutting agents” for diluting cocaine or converting it to cocaine base (“crack” cocaine). Pictures of a principle co-conspirator were found at Owden’s residence posing in front of a wall sized “STOP SNITCH-N” poster – a reference to a national campaign to discourage cooperation with law enforcement.
The defendant will be sentenced by Senior United States District Judge Lacey A. Collier on February 26, 2007. The penalty for each drug offense is a mandatory minimum of 5 years to a maximum of 40 years imprisonment and a $2 million fine. The penalty for the firearm conviction is a mandatory minimum of 5 years to a maximum of life imprisonment, which sentence must by law run consecutive to any sentence the court may impose on the narcotic convictions.
This case was investigated by DEA and ECSO Narcotics. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Thomas P. Swaim.