United States Drug Enforcement Administration

GREENVILLE, N.C. - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced today that a jury convicted Donald Jerome Parkeralso known as “DP”, 27of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, of two counts of distributing a quantity of cocaine (crack) and two counts of distributing 28 grams or more of cocaine (crack). The jury returned its verdict following a trial in federal court before Senior United States District Judge Malcolm J. Howard.

Parker was named in a Superseding Indictment on August 4, 2015. He was originally indicted on March 3, 2015. The defendant was the target of an investigation which was a collaborative effort among several law enforcement agencies, to include the Nash County Sheriff’s Office, Rocky Mount Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement (DEA).

At trial, the Government presented evidence that on five separate instances Parker sold over 189 grams of crack cocaine to a confidential informant between March 5, 2013 and March 11, 2013 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. In addition to being visible on videos selling crack cocaine, during one of the controlled buys Parker could also be heard cooking crack cocaine in the presence of the confidential informant.

At sentencing, Parkerfaces a maximum of 40 years imprisonment followed by four years of supervised release.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Nash County Sheriff’s Office and the Rocky Mount Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dena J. King and Dennis Duffy.

The DEA encourages parents, along with their children, to educate themselves about the dangers of legal and illegal drugs by visiting DEA’s interactive websites at www.justthinktwice.com, www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com and www.dea.gov.