PENSACOLA, Fla. — A Pensacola man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine between Texas and Escambia County, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.
Niceville.com Community Partner
Charlie N. Steans, 58, of Pensacola and Texas City, Texas, was sentenced for his role in an interstate drug trafficking operation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the sentence on Friday.
U.S. Attorney John P. Heekin said he applauded the collaborative work of state and federal partners who disrupted the flow of narcotics into Northwest Florida.
“My office will continue to deliver successful prosecutions and substantial prison sentences for drug traffickers, like this defendant, as part of the Homeland Security Task Force’s whole-of-government approach to eliminating and eradicating organized criminal enterprises that threaten the safety of our communities,” said Mr Heekin.
Niceville.com Community Partner
Investigators reported that Mr Steans was caught in early 2023 at a Greyhound station in Houston with approximately 10 kilograms of methamphetamine and one kilogram of cocaine concealed in his luggage. He bonded out of a Texas jail but was reportedly arrested again in Mississippi in late 2024 on another Greyhound bus, this time with nearly four kilograms of cocaine headed toward Pensacola.
According to federal officials, multiple jurisdictions then connected Mr Steans to transporting large quantities of narcotics between Texas and Florida. He was subsequently taken into federal custody based on charges filed in the Northern District of Florida.
“Our agents and law enforcement partners will continue to fight those trafficking poisons into our Florida communities,” said DEA Miami Field Division Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter.
“Whether by bus, tractor-trailer, plane, or boat, we will find you and bring you to justice.”
Niceville.com Community Partner
The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pensacola Police Department, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Florida Highway Patrol.
Assistant United States Attorneys David L. Goldberg and Jessica S. Etherton prosecuted the case.
