Gang Member Sentenced for Methamphetamine and Illegally Possessing a Firearm

Gulfport, Miss. – Chuck Mordecai Cumberland, age 31, of Waveland, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden to 39 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years supervised release, for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and for being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Special Agent in Charge Dana Nichols with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Cumberland also was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.

Cumberland pled guilty on February 23, 2018. Yesterday’s sentence will run consecutive to Cumberland’s current sentence for which he is now in prison on an unrelated state conviction.

On July 27, 2016, Waveland police officers arrested Cumberland as a felon-in-possession of three handguns and related ammunition. Police also seized less than one ounce of marijuana, a paraphernalia pipe, and three pills of prescription pain killers for which Cumberland did not have a prescription. A member of the Simon City Royals Gang, Cumberland had been convicted of Felony Driving Under the Influence (DUI) by the Hancock County Circuit Court in February 2016. Cumberland had been on state supervision after serving a prison sentence for Felony DUI. After his arrest for being a felon in possession of a firearm, his state supervision was revoked and he was returned to state prison.

Thereafter, on January 26, 2017, after Cumberland’s release from the Mississippi Department of Corrections, Harrison County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrested Cumberland in the Saucier Community during an attempted narcotics transaction. Cumberland attempted to flee and, when caught by deputies, he was found with a loaded .38 caliber revolver, three plastic baggies of methamphetamine and a digital scale on his person. A fourth baggie of methamphetamine had fallen to the ground next to the vehicle Cumberland had been using. The Mississippi State Crime Lab determined that the four baggies contained a total weight of approximately 2.9 grams of methamphetamine.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Waveland Police Department and the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Harris.