Duval County Jury Finds Coleman Guilty of Trafficking Drugs

State Attorney Melissa Nelson announces that a Duval County jury found Ervin Coleman guilty of Trafficking in Cocaine; Possession of a Place for Trafficking in or Manufacturing a Controlled Substance; and Possession of Controlled Substance Paraphernalia. With the verdict, Coleman faces up to 45 years in Florida State Prison with a minimum sentence of 15 years and a $250,000 fine. The Honorable Anthony Salem will sentence Coleman at a later date.

Beginning in early 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration began investigating Coleman after the Internal Revenue Service uncovered multiple suspicious bank transactions. After conducting monthslong surveillance on Coleman’s Lem Turner Boulevard business headquarters and observing numerous suspected narcotics transactions, a search warrant was granted on the business. On June 21, 2023, the DEA, along with members of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit and United States Customs and Border Protection, were positioned to execute the search warrant. Prior to execution, Coleman walked out of the back gate of the business and approached a car.  Coleman then opened the passenger door, removed a large, white item of suspected cocaine from his pocket, and gave it to the driver. Coleman and the driver were detained. A clear plastic bag containing approximately 4.5 ounces of cocaine was recovered from the car and the search warrant was then executed at the business.  Inside the business, officers recovered multiple items of paraphernalia used for preparing and packaging narcotics, empty kilogram wrappers, trafficking amounts of cocaine powder, and multiple firearms and ammunition. The drugs were sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for testing; results came back positive for cocaine.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Rich Giglio and Todd Conklin Jr.