01-03-2025
Norfolk jury convicts man on drug charges
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Norfolk Circuit Court jury convicted a man of possessing drugs with the intent to distribute them after police found more than 160 grams of illegal substances, including fentanyl, heroin and cocaine, on him during a 2024 arrest, the Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney's office said Friday.
Jamel Alim Yancey, 48, was found guilty Thursday of possessing Schedule I/II drugs and possessing Schedule I/II drugs with the intent to distribute them. A second offense charge of manufacturing/distribution of Schedule I/II drugs was dismissed, according to online court records.
'The United States remains in an overdose crisis, with the advent of 'tranq' threatening to undo the progress that we have started to make as a nation,' said Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi in a statement. 'We have secured a conviction in this case, and we will seek appropriate accountability at sentencing, including drug treatment, but if we want to address the root causes of drug dealing and drug addiction, we must invest in our communities, especially in evidence-based treatment for substance-use disorder outside of the criminal justice system. Otherwise, we will continue to watch history repeat itself in the courtroom.'
According to court documents and testimony, Yancey was spotted by Norfolk Police officers just after midnight June 9, 2024 at a gas station on Chesapeake Boulevard in the driver's seat of his car with an open container of alcohol in the cupholder.
Since having an open container of alcohol in a car is illegal in Virginia, officers asked Yancey to step out of the car, and they observed him visibly under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and officers saw him drop a straw with a powder residue on the ground, with the powder spilling onto Yancey's clothes.
In Yancey's hat, officers found a container with suspected drugs, and found multiple smaller bags with more suspected drugs, a digital scale and two phones in his satchel. He was also found ot have had multiple outstanding warrants in other localities.
Yancey told police that all of the drugs were for his own use, and that he had a history of substance abuse. Forensic testing later showed that he possessed more than 160 grams of a mixture of the opioid fentanyl and the veterinary tranquilizer xylazine, which the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office said is an amount consistent with an intent for distribution.
Yancey had a much smaller amount of other controlled drugs, including heroin and cocaine, that they said was consistent with personal use.
Prosecutors noted that the mix of fentanyl and xylazine — known by the street name 'tranq' — is a combination that's concerning to health experts because xylazine affects people such that lifesaving overdose drugs such as Narcan cannot reverse, and, when injected, xylazine can cause severe flesh wounds.
Yancey is scheduled to have his sentencing hearing April 17.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney J. Drew Fairbanks has been prosecuting Yancey's case, while Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Anthony J. Balady helped Fairbanks during the trial. Norfolk Police Detective Robert E. Broadbent led the investigation.
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