Habitual Drug Offender Facing Forty-Two Years in Prison

DA Charme Allen announces that prosecutors in the Career Gang Unit obtained convictions against a habitual drug offender caught with cocaine and a gun during a parole search.  Justin Orlando Mack, 43, was convicted of Possession with Intent to Sell Cocaine, Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Dangerous Felony, and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.  Judge Hector Sanchez set the case for sentencing on November 14 where Mack faces a minimum of forty-two years in prison because of his prior criminal convictions.

In a two-day trial, Assistant District Attorneys TaKisha Fitzgerald and Molly Martin explained to the jury that on July 28, 2022, Knoxville Police Department Officer Terry Crowe along with other members of KPD’s Community Engagement Response Team and TDOC Parole Officers conducted a parole check on Mack’s residence on Oak Ridge Highway.  During the search, officers located thirty-six grams of cocaine in the kitchen and a loaded handgun and $15,000 cash in the bathroom.  Thirty-six grams of cocaine would amount to approximately two hundred individual uses of cocaine.  Mack was Mirandized and admitted possession of the cocaine.

“Habitual offenders who do not take advantage of multiple opportunities to change their criminal behavior can expect to receive lengthy prison sentences,” said DA Allen.

Mack has six prior felony convictions in Knox and Sevier Counties, five of which are for distributing cocaine.  After serving a portion of one of these previous prison sentences, Mack had been released from prison by the parole board and was on parole when he committed this offense.  Because of these prior convictions, prosecutors are asking that Mack be sentenced as a Habitual Drug Offender.  Mack has also been identified as a member of the Bloods criminal street gang.  Assistant Victim Witness Coordinator Sheri Burkett and Investigator Charlie Lee aided in the prosecution of this case.

If you have any questions, please contact Sean McDermott at 865-215-2515 or Sean.McDermott@knoxcounty.org. For more information about the District Attorney’s Office, visit our website at dag.knoxcountytn.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.