Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Louisville, KY – A federal grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky, returned a six-count indictment on February 6, 2024, charging a Louisville man with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, Commissioner Phillip Burnett, Jr. of the Kentucky State Police, Special Agent in Charge Rana Saoud of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Nashville, and Special Agent in Charge R. Shawn Morrow of the ATF Louisville Field Division made the announcement.
According to the indictment, between January 11, 2022, and July 26, 2023, Marcus Allen Crook, 32, conspired to distribute fentanyl and cocaine. On July 26, 2023, Crook possessed a Glock, model 17 Gen 4, nine-millimeter pistol, a Glock, model 20 Gen 4, ten-millimeter pistol, and a FN, model 509, nine-millimeter pistol, in furtherance to his drug trafficking. Crook was prohibited from possessing a firearm because he had previously been convicted of the following felony offense.
On December 7, 2012, in Jefferson Circuit Court, in Case Number 09-CR-3791, Crook was convicted of manslaughter in the first degree (not vehicle related).
Cook made his initial court appearance on February 21, 2024, before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. He remains detained pending trial. If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
There is no parole in the federal system.
This case is being investigated by the HSI and the KSP, with assistance from the ATF.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mac Shannon is prosecuting this case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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