Fairfield Man Sentenced To 26 Years In Prison On Drug And Gun Charges

BIRMINGHAM -- U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler last week sentenced a Fairfield man to 26 years in prison on drug distribution and gun charges, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey L. Fulton.

DAMIEN LARON McDANIEL, 33, pleaded guilty in February to one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, one count of using a firearm during a drug trafficking offense, two counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, and one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. Judge Coogler sentenced McDaniel to the 26 years in prison on those charges, and sentenced him to an additional 13 months in prison on a supervised release violation in a separate case.

The charges stemmed from a September 2012 controlled buy-bust operation in Fairfield conducted by the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board Drug Unit, according to court documents. McDaniel responded to a call from someone asking to buy heroin and showed up at the designated meeting place on Valley Road with packets of cocaine in his car and a Springfield 9mm pistol concealed in his waistband, according to his plea agreement.

At the time of that arrest, McDaniel already had been convicted of three felony offenses, according to the plea agreement.

In March 2013, a federal grand jury indicted McDaniel on charges arising from the September 2012 incident. When U.S. Marshals and other members of the Gulf Coast Regional Task Force arrested McDaniel in September 2013 on a warrant issued after the indictment, they observed numerous weapons and a large quantity of marijuana in plain view in the house where they found him, according to his plea agreement. Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputies followed up with a narcotics and weapons search warrant for the residence and recovered eight firearms and about a pound of marijuana.

The ATF, ABC, U.S. Marshals Service and Jefferson County Sheriff's Department investigated the case, which Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys E. Wilson Hunter and Daniel M. Murdock prosecuted.