TAMPA — Federal prosecutors across Florida announced sentences totaling more than 31 years in prison for three men convicted of drug trafficking and firearms offenses, part of a broader Justice Department crackdown that has targeted fentanyl dealers, repeat felons, and armed drug traffickers in communities from the Panhandle to the Gulf Coast.
The heaviest sentence — 16 years and 6 months — went to Ben Gordon, 35, of St. Petersburg, who pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine. U.S. District Judge John Badalamenti imposed the sentence after Gordon admitted to selling one pound of methamphetamine and approximately 27 grams of fentanyl to a confidential source working with DEA task force officers in one transaction, then selling another pound of methamphetamine and approximately 56 grams of fentanyl in a second deal. Gordon pleaded guilty on Feb. 22. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Brooke M. Padgett.
In DeSoto County, Donald Carl Woods, 42, of Arcadia, received 13 years and 4 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute, possessing a firearm as a previously convicted felon, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Deputies from the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office arrested Woods near his residence on an active out-of-state warrant and seized a firearm and a quantity of methamphetamine from his person. Woods was a multi-time convicted felon who could not lawfully possess a firearm under federal law. He pleaded guilty on Jan. 27. United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced both the Gordon and Woods sentences.
In the Northern District, Kendrick Parham, 47, of Panama City, was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Parham, a four-time convicted felon legally prohibited from possessing firearms, was initially arrested on state charges after the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives assisted the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in executing a search warrant at his residence, where five ounces of methamphetamine were discovered. While in jail, Parham made incriminating statements during a monitored phone call about a firearm in his residence that officers had not previously found. A second search warrant yielded the firearm. Forfeiture was ordered as to all four recovered firearms. Parham’s prison term will be followed by three years of supervised release.
United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida John P. Heekin framed the prosecution as part of a national enforcement priority. “Under Operation Take Back America, my office will continue to deploy the full might of the Department of Justice toward removing the perpetrators of violent crime from our communities until our citizens get the safe, crime-free streets they deserve,” Heekin said.
Two of the three cases — Parham’s in Panama City and Woods’ in Arcadia — were formally designated under Operation Take Back America, the Justice Department initiative that marshals federal resources to combat violent crime, transnational criminal organizations, and illegal immigration. The Woods case was also linked to Project Safe Neighborhoods, a longstanding federal program targeting gun violence.
The cases spanned three separate federal judicial districts in Florida and drew on investigations by the DEA, the FBI, the ATF, and local sheriff’s offices in Bay and DeSoto counties. The breadth of agencies involved reflects the layered enforcement model federal prosecutors have increasingly relied on to build cases against armed drug traffickers — using monitored jail calls, confidential sources, and coordinated warrant executions to secure convictions.
The fentanyl quantities in the Gordon case, while measured in grams rather than kilograms, underscore the drug’s outsized lethality. The 56 grams seized in the second controlled buy alone represent thousands of potentially lethal doses, according to DEA conversion standards. Gordon’s 16-year-and-6-month sentence is among the longer federal drug sentences handed down in the Middle District this year.
Assistant United States Attorney James A. McCain prosecuted the Parham case in the Northern District, while Assistant United States Attorney Simon Eth handled the Woods prosecution in the Middle District’s Fort Myers division. All three sentences were announced on the same day, signaling coordinated messaging from federal prosecutors statewide about the consequences facing repeat offenders caught with drugs and firearms.
The Woods and Parham cases both involved convicted felons found in possession of firearms — a federal offense carrying significant mandatory penalties that prosecutors have prioritized under the current administration’s public safety agenda. Woods’ sentence of 13 years and 4 months reflected the added enhancement for possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, a charge that carries a mandatory consecutive term.
All three defendants have been sentenced and are expected to report to the Bureau of Prisons. Parham faces an additional three years of supervised release following his incarceration.