Repeatedly Convicted Felon Sentenced To Forty Years In Prison And Fined $500,000 Following New Cocaine Conviction

MOBILE, AL – Following a trial in September 2025, a federal jury convicted an Arkansas man of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Nicholas Ferlando Haynie, 45, of Camden, Arkansas, was a member of a drug trafficking organization based in Mobile, Alabama.  

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) initiated an investigation into the drug distribution network of John David Clarke of Mobile, leading to a court-authorized wiretap on Clarke’s phone.  During the monitoring of Clarke’s calls, agents identified Clarke’s drug supplier, who was charged as a co-defendant in the indictment.  Substantial incriminating evidence was obtained from Clarke’s phone communications with his drug supplier who also lived in Mobile.  Incriminating evidence was also obtained from several phones belonging to Clarke’s cocaine supplier, which identified several of his other drug distributers, including Haynie.  The drug supplier routinely discussed drug amounts, prices and locations where the drugs were delivered for further distribution with his co-conspirator distributers.  During the conspiracy, hundreds of kilograms of cocaine sourced from Mexico and through Texas were distributed in Alabama, Arkansas, and elsewhere.

During the conspiracy, hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds were delivered from Mobile to drug suppliers up the chain of distribution in Texas.  Evidence obtained from Haynie’s cell phones included pictures of him possessing firearms and posing with bulk cash drug proceeds.  Eight guns were also seized from locations where co-conspirators lived in Mobile and Katy, Texas, along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

Haynie had been previously convicted of multiple felonies, including the manufacture, delivery, and possession of a controlled substance and sexual abuse first degree in violation of Arkansas state law in 2000.  Haynie had also been convicted in federal court in Arkansas for the distribution of crack cocaine in 2014.  While in federal prison, Haynie was twice convicted of possessing a prohibited object (cell phone).  Haynie was released from federal prison in 2021.    

United States District Court Judge Terry F. Moorer imposed the sentence.  On December 18, 2025, Haynie was sentenced to 40 years in prison, followed by an eight-year term of supervised release upon release from prison.  Haynie was also ordered to pay a $500,000 fine and a $100 special assessment.     

As conditions of his supervision, Haynie will undergo testing and treatment for drug and/or alcohol abuse, will be subject to a search of his person and premises upon reasonable suspicion, and required to register as a sex offender. 

United States Attorney Sean P. Costello made the announcement.

The case was investigated by the Mobile Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, and multiple federal and local partners.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin Kopf and Gloria Bedwell prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.