Three Crestview residents have been indicted in federal court on charges tied to an alleged cocaine trafficking operation in Okaloosa County, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.
Federal prosecutors announced that Arzalea Teshean McLaughlin, 37, Benjamin Eugene Mack, 54, and Roger Cornell Daniels, 37, were charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, along with other related offenses.
According to the indictment, McLaughlin, Mack, and Daniels are accused of participating in a conspiracy involving 500 grams or more of cocaine and cocaine base. Prosecutors also charged the defendants with conspiracy to commit unlawful use of a communications facility and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
The three defendants appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zachary C. Bolitho in Pensacola for their arraignments. Their jury trial is scheduled to begin July 20, 2026, before U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II.
If convicted, McLaughlin and Mack face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and could receive life sentences. Daniels faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and could receive up to 74 years in prison.
The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, and the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicia H. Forbes is prosecuting the case.
Federal officials said the case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative focused on disrupting drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations, and other violent criminal activity.
An indictment is a formal accusation and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
