Sanford Cocaine Trafficker Convicted Of Firearms And Drug Charges

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces that a federal jury has found Terrence Denard Perkins (45, Sanford) guilty of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Perkins faces a minimum penalty of 20 years, up to life, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 4, 2026. Perkins was indicted on January 8, 2025.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, on January 9, 2024, law enforcement executed a narcotics search warrant on a house in Sanford, Florida, occupied by Perkins’ elderly stepfather. Inside the house, agents found an electronic money counter, revolvers in the bedrooms, and a loaded AR-15 semiautomatic rifle concealed behind a sofa cushion.

                     AR-15 found in the sofa

                 Revolver in Perkins' bedroom

In a backyard carport, agents found bags of cocaine and a cocaine cutting, packaging, and distribution station. Next to the packaging station, on the hood of Perkins’ Corvette, was another loaded AR-15 and a MAC-10 handgun wrapped up in a t-shirt.

AR-15 and MAC-10 on the hood of the Corvette

Hidden inside two broken-down cars on the back yard lawn, agents found Perkins’ cocaine inventory—18 vacuum sealed kilogram bricks of cocaine—along with more AR-15s, handguns, an AK-47 rifle, a machinegun, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

Financial records, DNA results, videos saved on Perkins’ stash house surveillance system, and Perkins’s own social media posts proved at trial that the seized items were tools and inventory of Perkins’ prolific drug trade. The United States is forfeiting the firearms and ammunition involved in the offense. 

Bricks of cocaine, firearms, and cocaine trafficking paraphernalia seized from Perkins' house

Perkins is a seven-time convicted felon, including convictions for conspiracy to traffic cocaine, possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, and aggravating fleeing and eluding. As such, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office’s City County Investigative Bureau (CCIB), with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Richard Varadan and Michael P. Felicetta. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer M. Harrington is handling the forfeiture of firearms and ammunition.   

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.