ATLANTA — Dwan Maurice Hewlett must have thought he was about to make a lucrative deal when he drove to an Athens gas station.
His car was filled with fentanyl and other drugs, in baggies ready to go.
Instead, he wound up sprinting down the road, in a hapless attempt to evade police officers.
A confidential informant had lured Hewlett, 41, to the location on Danielsville Road on behalf of the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, said William R. “Will” Keyes, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia.
“Cases like this highlight the strong collaboration between our office and our local, state and federal law enforcement partners,” Keyes said.
Hewlett, also known as “LA,” was sentenced Monday to serve 420 months in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. He was found guilty at trial in February of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine, not to mention actual possession with intent to distribute plus a couple of counts involving firearms.
The man from Hull on the northeast edge of Athens had a .380 pistol under his driver’s seat. Officers also recovered baggies with drugs ready to go: 133.51 grams of fentanyl, 58.31 grams of methamphetamine, 9.783 grams of cocaine and 16 grams of cocaine base.
A search of cell phones that Hewlett had in the car revealed drug-related messages and photos, indicating that he was conspiring to distribute two kilograms of fentanyl just days prior to his arrest, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Hewlett had three prior convictions in the Clarke County Superior Court in cases involving drugs and firearms.
When Hewlett pulled into that gas station, Athens-Clarke officers boxed his vehicle in and exited their undercover vehicles wearing “POLICE” marked body armor.
After they told Hewlett to get out of his car, he reached under his seat and then sort of complied. He left his car, but ignored the cops, taking off on foot. He couldn’t outrun them, though.
“This armed career criminal will no longer be selling the dangerous drug fentanyl in our community,” Athens-Clarke County Police Chief Jerry Saulters said.