United States Drug Enforcement Administration

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Jermaine Z. Lewis, 32, of Pensacola, Florida, pled guilty in federal court for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute over 400 grams of fentanyl; possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin; and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “Federal law enforcement and our state and local partners are not going to idly sit by and let drug traffickers flood our streets with deadly drugs.  Through the great work of a multi-agency operation, this armed drug dealing felon will now be incapacitated, and the Pensacola community will be safer for it.”

Court documents reveal that in January and February 2025 Lewis was distributing fentanyl on the streets of Pensacola.  Law enforcement intercepted a mailed parcel bound for Lewis that contained approximately four pounds of fentanyl pills. With this information, law enforcement obtained a search warrant for Lewis’ residence in March 2025.  Law enforcement seized two loaded firearms, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl.  Wire receipts detailing money transfers to Mexico were also recovered.  Lewis is a previously convicted felon.   

Lewis faces up to life imprisonment upon sentencing, which is scheduled for October 16, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola before United States District Judge M. Casey Rodgers. 

The case involved a joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the Pensacola Police Department, and the Florida Highway Patrol.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David L. Goldberg and Jessica S. Etherton.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline) a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).