Palmetto drug dealer gets prison after fentanyl arrest, prosecutors say
.jpg "A federal judge sentenced Traveous Anderson, 39, to more than 17 years in prison for trafficking fentanyl, according to prosecutors.")
A Palmetto man will spend nearly two decades in prison for trafficking fentanyl, federal prosecutors said.
A federal judge sentenced 39-year-old Traveous Anderson to 17 years and six months in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, according to court records.
Undercover agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration bought fentanyl from Anderson three times between April and May 2024, totaling about 28 grams, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. Investigators said they later arrested Anderson in May 2024 after he brought nearly 56 additional grams of fentanyl to a hotel in Sarasota.
At the time of his arrest, Anderson was serving federal supervised release tied to a previous drug trafficking conviction, prosecutors said. Court records show Anderson previously served more than six years in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2017 to cocaine distribution.
The case stemmed from a broader drug investigation that also led to the arrest of Anderson’s co-defendant, Alexis Soto Escalante, an Ellenton man who investigators said supplied Anderson with fentanyl over several months.
Palmetto man sentenced in drug trafficking case
Investigators said Anderson, who went by the street name “Chop,” arranged a drug deal with a source who was working undercover with the Drug Enforcement Administration. After arresting Anderson, agents said they learned he had been buying fentanyl from Soto Escalante, who went by the nickname “Lil One.”
Prosecutors said the exchanges had been going on for months, including nearly 56 grams of fentanyl that Soto Escalante supplied Anderson the morning of their arrests.
After taking Anderson into custody, federal agents instructed him to call Soto Escalante to arrange a follow-up meeting to repay the earlier drug deal and request additional fentanyl, according to an arrest report.
When Soto Escalante arrived at Anderson’s apartment in Palmetto later that day, agents said they arrested him at the scene. Investigators searched Soto Escalante’s vehicle and reported finding about 641 grams of cocaine and 3.7 grams of fentanyl.
Agents also searched Anderson’s apartment, where investigators said they found additional drugs, including about 28.5 grams of suspected cocaine, 5.6 grams of suspected fentanyl, 73.7 grams of suspected MDMA and 3.1 grams of crack cocaine.
Second Manatee drug dealer sentenced
Later that day, investigators executed a search warrant at Soto Escalante’s apartment in Ellenton. Inside a bedroom identified as his, agents reported finding about 15 grams of cocaine in a shirt pocket, along with a Ruger handgun with a loaded magazine, boxes of ammunition, a digital scale and an undisclosed amount of cash.
Soto Escalante pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl and 500 grams of cocaine, according to court records. He faced up to 40 years in federal prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, the Bradenton Herald previously reported.
In June, a federal judge sentenced Soto Escalante to five years and 10 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release. Prosecutors dropped a more severe indictment as part of his plea agreement, court records show.
Court records show Anderson rejected a plea deal around the same time Soto Escalante accepted his. Prosecutors later filed a new indictment against Anderson the same day Soto Escalante signed his plea agreement and cited Anderson’s prior federal drug trafficking conviction, a move that prosecutors said at the time could increase the prison sentence he could receive if convicted.
