FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. — A 40-year-old Fort Walton Beach man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possessing methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl with the intent to distribute, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.
Elliot Maurice Bell was sentenced Wednesday, Sept. 2, following a joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Florida Highway Patrol.
According to court records, the case began April 28, 2024, when Bell fled from a Florida Highway Patrol trooper.
FHP ultimately stopped Bell’s vehicle using a pursuit intervention technique, or PIT maneuver. After Bell was arrested, law enforcement searched the vehicle and found methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl, according to federal prosecutors.
Bell later pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute the three controlled substances.
U.S. Attorney John P. Heekin said the sentence brings an end to Bell’s involvement in distributing what prosecutors described as deadly drugs in the community.
“This repeat offender’s days of flooding our streets with deadly drugs has come to an end,” Heekin said, crediting investigators with the Florida Highway Patrol and DEA.
Heekin said federal prosecutors will continue to pursue lengthy sentences against people involved in drug trafficking in the Northern District of Florida.
DEA Special Agent in Charge Daniel Escobar, whose Tampa Field Division oversees the investigation, said the agency and its law enforcement partners will continue targeting drug traffickers throughout the Florida Panhandle.
The case was investigated by the DEA and FHP and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey M. Tharp.
Federal prosecutors said the case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative focused on combating cartels and transnational criminal organizations, addressing illegal immigration and prosecuting violent crime.
Bell will serve 15 years in federal prison as a result of the sentence.
