Jury finds violent Pensacola man guilty of drug trafficking charges

PENSACOLA, Fla – A violent Pensacola felon has been convicted of drug trafficking charges.

A federal jury convicted Michael Joe Green, II, 49, of Pensacola, of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, and the distribution of 500 grams or more of cocaine. The guilty verdict, returned Friday at the conclusion of a four-day trial, was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida (USAO), in July 2021, the United States Postal Inspection Service seized a package sent from Houston, Texas, to Pensacola, Florida, containing over two kilograms of cocaine. An extended multi-agency investigation is said to have determined that Green had purchased certain unique packing materials used to ship the cocaine and directed his girlfriend to mail it to his mother’s address in Pensacola on his behalf.

The investigation also revealed that during late 2021 and early 2022, Green made frequent trips to the Houston area to obtain large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine and directed the transport of the drugs back to the Pensacola area for distribution, the USAO said.

In February 2022, Green was reportedly driving from Houston in tandem rental vehicles with his wife and others when both cars were stopped by law enforcement in Louisiana. Officers said they found and seized approximately eight pounds of cocaine and over half a kilogram of methamphetamine pills in the rental vehicle occupied by Green’s wife.

On the same day, search warrants were executed at two residences in Escambia County associated with Green, The USAO said. Reportedly, loaded firearms, small amounts of drugs, and documents addressed to Green at both residences were found in the houses.

Sentencing is set for May 22, 2023, at 9 a.m., at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola before United States District Judge M. Casey Rodgers.

Due to the large quantity of drugs involved in his crimes and his multiple prior serious violent felony convictions—including armed burglary, armed robbery, aggravated assault, shooting in an occupied vehicle, resisting arrest with violence, and aggravated battery with great bodily harm, for which he served a sentence in state prison – Green faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 25 years and a maximum of life in prison, the USAO said.

The case resulted from a joint investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, United States Postal Inspection Service, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Drug Enforcement Administration,  United States Marshals Service, and Lake Charles (Louisiana) Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David L. Goldberg and Jennifer H. Callahan prosecuted the case.