Out of jail after heroin-related arrest, convicted felon faces new trafficking charge in Bradenton
MANATEE -- A convicted drug dealer has been charged with heroin trafficking while out on bond for seven earlier heroin-related charges, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.
Cedric Lamar Houston, 35, of Lakewood Ranch, was arrested in the 5300 block of 30th Street East at 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.
Judge Gilbert Smith on Thursday revoked Houston's bond in the earlier charges. Attorney Richard Reinhart is representing him.
"Stay in touch, Cedric, but you won't be able to bond out," Reinhart said.
The state requested $500,000 bond on the new trafficking charge, but Smith set it at $100,000.
The sheriff's office and the Bradenton Police Department placed Houston under surveillance because officials suspected he was selling heroin. During surveillance Wednesday night, Houston left a residence carrying a large camouflage backpack and entered the passenger side of a red Hyundai sedan driven by his girlfriend, according to a report.
The two drove to another location, and Houston exited the sedan and got into the driver's seat of a silver Infiniti SUV, which he drove throughout Manatee, deputies said. He made several evasive maneuvers to try to identify surveillance vehicles, such as entering the parking lot of a business and immediately pulling out, according to the arrest report.
Deputies observed Houston meeting with three separate people for "short durations" while driving, and believe he was selling heroin to those people.
As Houston began re-entering the SUV, deputies tried to arrest him. Houston immediately tried to run but was caught by law enforcement after a brief foot chase, according to the report.
A search of Houston, the vehicle and the backpack yielded 44.5 grams of heroin, 11.7 grams of crack cocaine, 1.4 grams of cocaine and $4,500 in cash, authorities said.
Houston was out on bonds totaling $120,000 for seven charges of selling heroin and selling heroin near a church in April. He has also been charged with domestic battery, use of a deadly weapon, aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a motor vehicle, trafficking cocaine, violating probation, home invasion and numerous other offenses since 2000.
Houston has been incarcerated in state prisons on three separate occasions, most recently in August 2009 when he was sentenced to four years in prison after his conviction on several charges, including cocaine possession. He was released in November 2011, according to the Florida Department of Correction.
His earlier prison stints, also for cocaine-related and other convictions, were from March 2001 to November 2001; and from April 2004 to November 2006, according to prison records.
This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Out of jail after heroin-related arrest, convicted felon faces new trafficking charge in Bradenton ."