Pensacola career criminal convicted of drug trafficking, firearm charges

PENSACOLA, Fla. – A federal jury has convicted a Pensacola man of drug trafficking and firearms offenses, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida (USAO) has announced.

A federal jury in Pensacola convicted Michael Tyrone Lindsey, 38, of Pensacola, on possession with intent to distribute over 50 grams of methamphetamine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The guilty verdict, returned at the conclusion of a two-day trial, was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

According to the USAO, the charges against Lindsey were based upon an execution of an outstanding arrest warrant for Lindsey at his hotel room in Pensacola.

Evidence introduced during the trial revealed after seeing over $3000 in cash and drugs in plain view on one of the beds during the arrest, a state search warrant was obtained. Officers reportedly seized over 200 grams of pure methamphetamine in a large plastic bag and a loaded handgun between the mattresses of the bed where Lindsey was reaching when he was arrested, along with small amounts of various other drugs.

A Facebook video Lindsey is alleged to have posted of himself four days prior to his arrest reportedly shows him holding a bag of meth and a gun and “rapping” about them.

Lindsey’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 15, 2023, at 9 a.m., at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola before United States District Judge M. Casey Rodgers.

Due to prior convictions for both violent and drug-related felonies qualifying Lindsey as an Armed Career Criminal, he will be subject to mandatory enhanced sentences, the USAO said.

Lindsey faces a mandatory 10 years to life imprisonment, five years of supervised release, and a fine for possession with Intent to Distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; mandatory/minimum 5 years imprisonment up to life imprisonment, five years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000, for possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and up to 10 years imprisonment, three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000 for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

This conviction resulted from an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Pensacola Police Department, and the United States Marshals. Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey M. Tharp prosecuted the case.