75 Pieces Of Crack Cocaine, $10K Seized

SARASOTA, FL — A 45-year-old Bradenton man faces a long list of criminal charges after Sarasota police say they caught him in possession of drugs, cash and paraphernalia during a recent undercover operation.

According to the Sarasota Police Department, detectives learned of Calvin Butler’s alleged criminal activities over the course of several undercover operations conducted recently. During one such operation, police say they spotted Butler, a former Sarasota resident, in the 1900 block of 5th Street.

Get the Sarasota Patch newsletter and alerts in your inbox.

Officers made contact with Butler, who was sitting in a vehicle, and found “baggies of powder and rock cocaine, various prescription pills and U.S. currency,” a Monday morning email from the police department said.

Officers ended up seizing $10,370 in cash, 75 pieces of rock cocaine, 19 bags of powder cocaine, 53 doses of hydromorphone, 45 doses and three broken pieces of buprenorphine and one dose of oxycodone, the email said. They also found Butler in possession of 41 syringes, the email added.

Butler was charged with trafficking in hydromorphone, possession of cocaine with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of Gillespie Park, possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

“Butler had a large customer base in the City of Sarasota and was a supplier to many homeless individuals in and around the downtown areas,” said Sgt. Rob Armstrong of Criminal Investigations Division in announcing the arrest. “He provided syringes to his buyers and users during sales. This is a major arrest in the continuing effort to keep the City of Sarasota safe.”

Butler was brought into custody on April 18. He remained in the Sarasota County Jail on Monday, county records indicate.

Keep up with what’s happening by following Sarasota Patch on Facebook.

Photos courtesy of the Sarasota Police Department