PARKVILLE, MD—A U.S. District Judge on Friday sent a Baltimore man to prison after dealing drugs in the Parkville area.

Delonte Wheeler, 28, of Baltimore, has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison, followed by four years of supervised release, for possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Special Agent in Charge Timothy Jones of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his plea agreement, on April 30, 2019, law enforcement officers saw Wheeler and an associate working together to distribute narcotics through several hand-to-hand transactions in the 1600-block of Moreland Avenue (21234).

As officers approached Wheeler and his associate, Wheeler entered a vehicle and drove away from the area. He fled to a neighboring residential area where he attempted to discard two bags in a resident’s trashcan and his car keys at another resident’s garage. Soon after, Wheeler was detained by law enforcement.

A Baltimore Police Department officer retrieved the two bags Wheeler attempted to conceal. The BPD officer recovered a 9mm pistol loaded with 12 cartridges as well as 82 plastic bags of marijuana from the first bag. The second bag Wheeler attempted to conceal contained 23 plastic containers of marijuana. In sum, officers recovered approximately 459 grams of marijuana.

As stated in his plea agreement, Wheeler admitted that he possessed marijuana with the intent to distribute and possessed the firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

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