Multi-Time Felon Who Received 2024 Commutation for Fentanyl Trafficking Nabbed in Large Fentanyl Seizure
ATLANTA - Walter Lee Muhammad, a multi-convicted drug trafficker whose 2020 sentence for fentanyl trafficking was commuted by former President Joe Biden in December 2024, appeared in federal court today on a new fentanyl-trafficking charge filed in the Northern District of Georgia.
“Muhammad is a serial drug trafficker who – despite receiving the extraordinary gift of presidential clemency – continued to deal lethal fentanyl and other dangerous drugs,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “Thanks to our law enforcement partners, the community is safer with this repeat offender off the street and back behind bars.”
“Despite receiving a second chance, this defendant returned to trafficking fentanyl and putting lives at risk,” said Jae W. Chung, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division. “The seizure of this significant amount of fentanyl is a reminder that we will continue to hold those who profit from this deadly poison accountable. Through the combined efforts of the Homeland Security Task Force and our law enforcement partners, we will continue working to keep fentanyl off our streets and protect our communities.”
According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and other information presented in court: On August 5, 2026, DEA agents conducting a narcotics investigation in Atlanta saw Muhammad loading multiple bags of suspected drugs into his BMW. Agents followed Muhammad’s vehicle to Greensboro, North Carolina, where the Guilford County (North Carolina) Sheriff’s Office stopped it. During the stop, a K-9 allegedly alerted deputies to the odor of narcotics, prompting deputies to search the BMW. Law enforcement seized approximately 29 kilograms of suspected cocaine from Muhammad’s vehicle and arrested him.
The next day, DEA agents searched Muhammad’s apartment in midtown Atlanta, where they seized two kilograms of suspected fentanyl and seven kilograms of suspected heroin. DEA also searched Muhammad’s southwest Atlanta property and recovered three firearms, including a stolen pistol.
Muhammad has multiple prior convictions for drug trafficking. On August 13, 1999, Muhammad was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine; on November 24, 2010, he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana; and on February 6, 2020, he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison following his conviction for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
On December 12, 2024, approximately five years after Muhammad’s federal conviction, then-President Biden commuted Muhammad’s 2020 sentence along with the sentences of 1,498 other federal prisoners.
On August 7, 2026, a federal criminal complaint was filed in the Northern District of Georgia charging Walter Lee Muhammad, 46, of Atlanta, Georgia, with possession with the intent to distribute controlled substances. Today, Muhammad appeared before a federal magistrate judge in Greensboro, North Carolina. He will appear in the Northern District of Georgia at a later date. He is detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending further proceedings.
Members of the public are reminded that the criminal complaint only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges, and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with valuable assistance from the Sandy Springs Police Department, Guilford County Sheriff’s Office, and the Greensboro Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Johnny Baer is prosecuting the case.
The investigation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. The Atlanta Wilhelm HSTF comprises agents and officers from ATF, CGIS, DEA, FBI, ICE-HSI, IRS-CI, DOL-OIG, DSS, USMS, USPIS, and USSS, as well as numerous state and local agencies, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
