A drug dealer from Central Florida has been sentenced for trafficking.
The Merritt Island drug dealer who sold fentanyl and cocaine until a SWAT team stormed his mobile home was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
A Brevard County jury recently convicted 51-year-old Jeremy D. Priest of trafficking fentanyl and cocaine in 2021, citing evidence provided by assistant state attorneys Rebecca Price and Bernadette Serafinowicz. The prosecutors also persuaded the jury that Priest should be sentenced as a habitual felony offender, a classification that allows the court to enhance the maximum jail term in Florida.
Circuit Judge Kathryn Speicher sentenced Jeremy Priest to 30 years in state prison followed by a lifetime probation. He gained credit for 1,341 days already spent in jail awaiting trial.
“We thank the jury for their decision,” Price stated. “It allowed us to remove Mr. Priest and his dangerous drugs from the community and keep people safer.”
The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office targeted Jeremy Priest in 2021 when its Special Investigations Unit began investigating “drug distribution activities occurring throughout the premises” at his home on St. Charles Avenue, just south of the Kennedy Space Center.
Deputies served a search warrant there, when they encountered Priest, a six-time offender. They also discovered 523 grams of fentanyl, 45.6 grams of cocaine, $11,182 in cash, and a loaded Glock 9mm handgun hidden throughout the house.
The 2021 trafficking case was the first of two pending against Priest. Agents raided his residence again in 2023 and seized fentanyl while Priest was out on bond awaiting trial.
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