FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: David Chapman
Phone: (904) 255-3004
Cell: (904) 524-6626
ChapmanD@coj.net
July 12, 2023
JURY FINDS MORGAN GUILTY OF SELLING DRUGS NEAR PLACE OF WORSHIP
State Attorney Melissa Nelson announces that a Duval County jury found Anthony Morgan guilty of one count of Sale, Manufacture, or Deliver a Controlled Substance within 1000 Feet of a Church or Convenience Business and one count of Sale, Manufacture, or Deliver a Methamphetamine within 1000 Feet of a Church or Convenience Business. With the verdict, Morgan faces up to life in Florida State Prison due to Morgan’s status as a Habitual Felony Offender. The Honorable James Kallaher will sentence Morgan at a future hearing.
During a city-wide drug bust on Jan. 20, 2023, officers with Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office went undercover to buy narcotics. They went to a Baymeadows hotel and were instructed by a co-defendant to go to a specific room to make a purchase. Inside the room, Morgan sold the detective fentanyl and crystal methamphetamine. The detective was recording the interaction and used verified JSO funds for the transaction. When the detective left the room, he gave a signal for officers to move in on the scene. Multiple people, including Morgan, were arrested during the bust. The transactions took place less than 1,000 feet from a place of worship.
The case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Austin Kwikkel and Doug Baer.