Meth Ice Dealer Convicted in Federal Court

Acting United States Attorney Steve Butler of the Southern District of Alabama announced that Zachery Joseph Cooley, 38, of Mobile, was convicted in federal court on Thursday for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, four counts of distribution and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and three counts of illegal weapon possession.  The jury for the trial was selected on Monday, June 26, and the trial commenced on June 27 before Senior District Court Judge Callie V. S. Granade.

The prosecution called 20 witnesses in the two-day trial.  The evidence showed that Cooley came to the attention of law enforcement officers when a search warrant was executed at a residence on Willow Creek Drive in Mobile in February of 2016.  The Mobile Police Narcotics Unit encountered Cooley in the first bedroom, on his knees packaging five ounces of methamphetamine ice into smaller amounts for distribution.  Cooley gave a statement after being advised of his rights that he did not own the methamphetamine ice, but he was a drug dealer and he sold methamphetamine ice to make money to support his daughter.  Others in the house gave statements after being advised of their rights that Cooley had traveled to Mississippi the night before the police searched the house, and he brought the methamphetamine ice into the residence. 

Cooley was arrested again on September 8, 2016, when he brought methamphetamine ice into a hotel room in Tillman’s Corner where a confidential informant was waiting to get the drugs from a supplier.  The informant was equipped with electronic devices to record the activities inside the room, and the video depicted Cooley arriving in the room with the drugs.  Mobile County sheriff’s deputies followed Cooley away from the hotel and stopped him as he pulled into a gas station.  Cooley was armed with a revolver and the marked money used by the informant to buy the drugs was recovered from his person.

Finally, Cooley was again encountered by law enforcement officers, this time the Mobile County Street Enforcement Narcotics Team (MCSENT).  On September 27, 2016, another confidential informant was purchasing methamphetamine from a dealer, who called Cooley to bring the drugs.  The officers confronted the dealer after Cooley left, and the dealer agreed to make another controlled purchase of methamphetamine from Cooley the next day.  On that date, September 28, 2016, Cooley brought the methamphetamine to the dealer turned informant, and the MCSENT officers followed Cooley to arrest him for the distribution of the drugs.  When a marked police car activated its blue lights, Cooley threw two items from his vehicle before he stopped.  MCSENT officers subsequently recovered a brown bag containing methamphetamine, a pipe and a tube used to ingest methamphetamine, baggies and two scales.  They also recovered a gun.  Cooley gave a tape-recorded statement after he was advised of his rights in which he identified several others involved in the methamphetamine distribution business with him, including his suppliers and several local distributors who received meth ice from him.  Four of the people who received meth ice from Cooley testified against him during the trial, each having entered into a plea agreement that provided for cooperation in ongoing drug investigations. 

Thursday, the jury returned guilty verdicts on 8 of 9 counts.  Cooley was acquitted,   on one of the two counts of using and carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking felony.    Judge Granade set sentencing for October 4, 2017 at 9:30 a.m.  Cooley faces a minimum mandatory 10 years to life sentence on the conspiracy charge, and a minimum mandatory consecutive sentence of 5 years on the using and carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking felony count. 

The case was investigated by the Mobile Police Department, MCSENT, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations.  It was prosecuted in the United States Attorney’s Office by Assistant United States Attorney Gloria Bedwell.