Crack Cocaine Dealer Sentenced To Over 14 Years In Prison

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — A 40—year—old St. Petersburg man received his prison sentence from a U.S. District judge in Tampa Tuesday after pleading guilty for selling crack cocaine and being a convicted felon in possession of guns, a State Attorney's Office news release said.

Leon Grant, Jr., committed multiple robberies of credit unions in Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties in 2019, law enforcement officers said. Investigators got a search warrant January 22, 2020, and searched Grant's St. Pete home at an undisclosed location. According to authorities, more than 36 grams of fentanyl, 26 grams of methamphetamine and 35 grams of crack cocaine were found at his house. Additionally, an AR-15, two pistols and ammunition was found inside his bedroom.

Officers said Grand told them he was a drug dealer and he kept guns in his home for protection. Grant, who had previously been a convicted felon for multiple felonies, was not allowed to own guns or ammunition, police said. Grant pleaded guilty July 27, 2021.

He has been sentenced to 14 years and two months in federal prison for possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine and crack cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of firearms and ammunition by a convicted felon, State Attorney said. The court ordered him to forfeit the firearms and ammunition he had possessed.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, St. Petersburg Police Department, and Clearwater Police Department.