Man Found Guilty of Armed Trafficking, Sale of Cocaine

State Attorney Melissa Nelson announces that a Duval County jury found Jacari Lee O’Neal guilty of Trafficking in Substituted Cathinones while Armed with a Firearm, and Sale, Manufacture, or Delivery of Cocaine. With the verdict, O’Neal faces up to life with a 10-year mandatory minimum in Florida State Prison. The Honorable Lindsay Tygart will sentence O’Neal at a later date.

On June 24, 2023, undercover Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office detectives set up a drug buy with O’Neal using a phone number previously associated with a co-suspect. O’Neal conducted the sale at a Detroit Avenue apartment. During this sale, O’Neal talked about guns and retrieved a pistol. This transaction was captured on an audio recording. Detectives used this sale to further investigate O’Neal through a search warrant. On August 8, 2023, this search warrant was executed at the Detroit Apartment, where the pistol that was utilized on the June 24^th day was recovered in O’Neal’s bedroom.

The case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Kierstyn Jennings and Trinity Turinetti.