NEWS RELEASE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
John L. Brownlee United States Attorney Brian McGinn Public Affairs Specialist |
BB&T Building 310 1st Street, S.W., Room 906 Roanoke, Virginia 24011 (540) 857-2974 FAX (540) 857-2179 |
February 20, 2008
PULASKI MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO DRUG AND GUN CHARGES, FACES MANDATORY 25 YEARS IN PRISON
United States Attorney John L. Brownlee announced today that DARRYL ANTONIO TAYLOR a/k/a “Pretty Tony”, 23, of Pulaski, Virginia, pleaded guilty in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia to charges relating to a conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine in Pulaski, Virginia. TAYLOR entered pleas of guilty to one charge of conspiracy to distribute fifty grams or more of crack cocaine and one charge of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.
“Thanks to the cooperative effort of several law enforcement agencies, another dangerous individual has been taken off of our streets,” United States Attorney Brownlee said today. “This guilty plea is another step forward in providing our friends and neighbors with a safer community. A community that is free of drugs and illegal firearms.”
According to evidence presented at the guilty plea hearing on Tuesday by Assistant United States Attorney, Zachary Lee, TAYLOR, who had previously been convicted of a felony drug offense relating to cocaine, distributed crack cocaine in Pulaski, Virginia between January 1, 2006 and January 7, 2007. TAYLOR supplied other individuals with distribution quantity amounts of crack cocaine so that it could be further distributed in the Pulaski area. Furthermore, on March 22, 2006 during one of these drug transactions, TAYLOR possessed a firearm for the purpose of protecting the drugs and the money involved in the transaction.
Sentencing has been set for May 19, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon. TAYLOR faces a mandatory minimum term of twenty years in prison, a potential maximum term of life in prison, and a potential fine of $8 million on the charge of conspiracy to distribute fifty grams or more of crack cocaine. In addition, he also faces a mandatory minimum term of five years in prison on the charge of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. This term of imprisonment must be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed by the court.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Pulaski, Virginia Police Department, Wythe County Sheriff’s Department, Virginia State Police, and the Bristol Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee of the United States Attorney’s Office in Abingdon prosecuted the case.