TALLAHASSEE — A 46-year-old Tallahassee man who was already on federal supervised release for a prior cocaine conviction has pleaded guilty to distributing methamphetamine and cocaine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida announced.
Tedrick Childs faces not less than 15 years up to life imprisonment on the methamphetamine distribution count and up to 30 years on the cocaine distribution count. The Drug Enforcement Administration identified Childs as a poly-drug trafficker in the Tallahassee area and purchased cocaine and methamphetamine from him during an undercover operation between November and December 2025, according to court records.
“Ridding our streets of the drug traffickers like this defendant peddling deadly narcotics has been a principal objective of Operation Take Back America, and I am incredibly proud to deliver yet another successful prosecution under this DOJ initiative,” said John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. “The citizens of the Northern District of Florida deserve to live in drug-free, safe communities, and my office will continue to aggressively prosecute the criminals standing in the way of that objective.”
Childs was convicted in federal court in 2017 for distribution of cocaine and was serving a term of supervised release as part of his sentence in that case when he sold drugs in 2025. The repeat offense triggered the mandatory minimum of 15 years on the methamphetamine charge.
The case was investigated by the DEA and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Eric K. Mountin. It falls under Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative that marshals federal resources to eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect communities from violent crime.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 20, 2026, at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee before Chief United States District Judge Allen C. Winsor.