Bradenton Fentanyl Dealer Sentenced To Prison

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich has sentenced Jarvis Lanard McCants (29, Bradenton) to 12 years and 6 months in federal prison for conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute fentanyl. He pleaded guilty on May 4, 2017.

According to court documents, law enforcement officers received information on McCants and his drug trafficking activities. They then executed a search warrant at McCants’s residence in Bradenton. Agents approached McCants as he sat in the driver’s seat of a vehicle near his home, identified themselves, and ordered him out of the vehicle. McCants disregarded the commands and drove away at a high rate of speed, eventually striking another vehicle. He then exited the vehicle and fled on foot, but was soon apprehended.

During a search of the residence, agents recovered narcotics, including 22 grams of a brown powdery substance that tested positive for fentanyl and 23 grams of white powder that tested positive for cocaine, along with drug paraphernalia, a loaded firearm, and $8,656 in cash.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bradenton Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shauna S. Hale.