2 convicted of drug offenses in federal court in separate cases

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – Federal prison sentences have been imposed in two unrelated drug cases, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Alabama announced this week.

In the first case, Victoria Wyman was sentenced Oct. 22 to just over three years in prison for conspiring to distribute fentanyl after pleading guilty to trafficking.

Prosecutors said Wyman conspired with others to distribute the drug throughout the Mobile area from approximately July 2023 to December 2023.

U.S. District Court Judge William H. Steele sentenced Wyman to five years of supervised release following her 37-month sentence.

In an unrelated case, U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Beaverstock on Monday sentenced an Elberta man to 15 years in federal prison for possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl with intent to distribute.

Baldwin County sheriff's investigators identified Marcus Allen Heaton in multiple encounters between 2019 and 2021, according to court documents.

In May 2021, authorities stopped Heaton's vehicle because it had false taillights. After a K-9 gave a positive alert, officers searched the vehicle and found 132.6 grams – nearly a third of a pound – of meth, divided into five plastic bags and packaged for resale. Officers also discovered a total of 6.58 grams – just over two-tenths of an ounce – of fentanyl, divided into three additional plastic bags and packaged for resale.

A search of Heaton's phone found texts and electronic messages relating to Heaton's distribution of meth and fentanyl, according to court records.

In June this year he pleaded guilty to two counts of drug possession with intent to distribute.

The judge on Monday handed down a 15-year prison sentence for meth possession with intent to distribute. Federal prosecutors said it was the mandatory minimum sentence based on the amount of meth and Heaton's prior convictions for serious drug offenses.

On the fentanyl charge, Beaverstock sentenced Heaton to nearly 11 years in prison, to run concurrently with the sentencing on the meth charge.

Following his sentence, Heaton will be on five years of supervised release, must undergo drug treatment and testing, and will be subject to searches of his person or property if he is suspected of violating the conditions of his release.

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