NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Eldred L. Acklin, 34, of Hampton, Virginia, was arrested yesterday after being indicted by a federal grand jury on drug conspiracy charges as well as sixteen separate counts of distribution of cocaine base. 

            Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and William Hoover, ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Division, made the announcement after the indictment was unsealed today.  Acklin faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

            According to the indictment, Acklin is charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine base and cocaine between December of 2009, and September 2011, in Hampton and Newport News. 

            The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the Virginia State Police.  They were assisted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Hampton Police Division.   Special Assistant United States Attorney Timothy R. Murphy is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

            Criminal indictments are only charges and not evidence of guilt.  A defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty. 

            A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at www.justice.gov/usao/vae.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov.

 

 

 

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