Crime

Merritt Island Drug Dealer Sentenced to 30 Years for Fentanyl and Cocaine Trafficking

Published on

By Robert W. Burns III
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MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. — A Merritt Island drug dealer who supplied users with fentanyl and cocaine until a Brevard County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team raided his mobile home has been sentenced to 30 years in state prison.

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Jeremy D. Priest, 51, was convicted by a Brevard County jury in February of trafficking fentanyl and cocaine in 2021, based on evidence presented by Assistant State Attorneys Rebecca Price and Bernadette Serafinowicz. The prosecutors also convinced the jury that Priest should be sentenced as a Habitual Felony Offender, a designation under Florida law that allows the court to increase the maximum prison terms available for sentencing.

30 Years in Prison Plus Lifetime Probation

On April 15, Circuit Judge Kathryn Speicher sentenced Priest to 30 years in state prison followed by lifetime probation. He received credit for 1,341 days already served in the Brevard County Jail while awaiting trial.

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“We thank the jury for their decision,” Price said. “It allowed us to remove Mr. Priest and his dangerous drugs from the community and keep people safer.”

SWAT Raid on St. Charles Avenue

Priest became a target of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in 2021 when its Special Investigations Unit began looking into drug distribution activities occurring throughout the premises at his home on St. Charles Avenue, just south of Kennedy Space Center.

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When deputies executed a search warrant at the residence, they encountered Priest, a six-time convicted felon. Inside the mobile home, investigators recovered:

  • 523 grams of fentanyl
  • 45.6 grams of cocaine
  • $11,182 in cash
  • A loaded Glock 9mm handgun

The contraband was stashed in various locations throughout the home.

Second Fentanyl Bust While Out on Bond

The 2021 trafficking case was the first of two pending against Priest. Agents searched his home again in 2023 and seized additional fentanyl while Priest was free on bond awaiting trial in the original case.

Florida’s Fentanyl Crisis

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has described as 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Brevard County and communities across Florida have continued to see significant quantities of the drug trafficked through the Space Coast, prompting ongoing enforcement operations by the Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit and federal partners.

Priest is now in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections.

The Space Coast Rocket is a locally owned digital news outlet covering Brevard County and the Space Coast. Have a tip? Contact us at editor@thespacecoastrocket.com or 407-810-3200.

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