Gulfport, Miss. - Carl Hodge, Jr., 37, of Nicholson, Mississippi, was sentenced on April 17, 2018, by U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola, Jr., to serve 240 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and failure to appear, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Derryle Smith with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Coles was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.
On Oct. 21, 2015, Hodge was arrested after he sold methamphetamine to a DEA confidential source in Gulfport, Mississippi. He was indicted on April 5, 2016, and released on a $25,000 unsecured bond with pretrial supervision. On June 16, 2016, a warrant was issued for Hodge’s arrest after he failed to submit to supervision, and his whereabouts were unknown.
An investigating Deputy U.S. Marshal conducted database research and discovered that Hodge had ties to Picayune, Mississippi; Nicholson, Mississippi; and Pearl River, Louisiana. The Deputy Marshal spoke with Hodge’s federal probation officer, who advised that Hodge also had ties to Mexico. During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that Hodge, Jr. was in Veracruz, Mexico. He was arrested on March 24, 2017, and deported from Mexico to the United States. He was indicted for failure to appear on September 7, 2017. On Nov. 21, 2017, he pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and failure to appear.
The case was investigated by the Southern Mississippi Metro Enforcement Team, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shundral H. Cole.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
