Bradenton Man Convicted Of Possessing Fentanyl With The Intent To Distribute And Being A Felon In Possession Of A Firearm

 Tampa, Florida –A federal jury has found Larome D. Waiters (31, Bradenton) guilty of possession of fentanyl and heroin with the intent to distribute and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Waiters faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, and up to life, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 21, 2021.

Waiters had been indicted on October 1, 2019.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, in August 2019, officers arrested Waiters, based on an active arrest warrant, as he was coming out of an apartment wearing a fanny pack. Inside the fanny pack, Waiters had almost 17 grams of a fentanyl/heroin mixture packaged for sale. Inside the apartment, investigators found two guns. During an interview with law enforcement, after his arrest, Waiters told officers that he was planning to sell the fentanyl and that he owned the guns. As a previously convicted felon, Waiters is prohibited from possessing a firearm of ammunition under federal law.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Bradenton Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Callan L. Albritton.

This case is the result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation entitled “Hot Batch.” The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s drug supply.