Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008

Feds accuse four of dealing drugs

Four men with past drug convictions in Manatee have been indicted by federal authorities on drug dealing charges.

In the past week, FBI agents and Manatee County Sheriff's Office deputies have arrested four men the U.S. Attorney's Office is calling the "worst of the worst" drug dealers in the county.

Leonel Tribilant, 38, Demetrius Gabriel, 21, Antonio Munnings, 20, and Kerlin Bellot, 29, have all been indicted on charges of possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute.

All four have past drug convictions and have recently had state drug trafficking charges dropped against them, according to Manatee County court records.

In January, prosecutors declined to file cocaine trafficking charges against Tribilant. He had been arrested in a Bradenton Police drug sweep dubbed "Operation Broken Ice."

Police detectives made numerous arrests in the sweep, but charges were dropped against several suspects after prosecutors said police did not provide enough evidence to get convictions.

In Tribilant's case, police said they had recorded phone calls of him making drug deals. Prosecutors later ruled the phone calls were not enough to file charges.

Court records show cocaine trafficking charges against Gabriel, Munnings and Bellot were also dropped.

In March, Manatee County Sheriff's Office detectives stormed a house in the 700 block of 64th Avenue Terrace West, finding all three men.

They also found more than 230 grams of crack cocaine in the house, in a hidden compartment below floorboards, according to sheriff's reports.

All three were arrested, but prosecutors dropped the charges because the drugs were not in plain view, therefore possession could not specifically be assigned to anyone in the house.

But as local authorities arrested the men, federal authorities were also watching them, witnessing several crack cocaine drug deals since September 2007, according to the indictment.

U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Steve Cole said authorities often ask for assistance in building drug cases.

"In the past few years, we have been reaching out to help local law enforcement agencies who come to us with people they are having a problem with," Cole said. "We have a pretty good track record of getting convictions in these cases. We are really trying to get the worst of the worst."