EAST ST. LOUIS — A Murphysboro man pled guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court on crack cocaine and firearm offenses. U.S. Attorney Stephen Wigginton says 29-year-old Martell L. Brown-Wright, pleaded guilty to a four-count indictment charging distribution of crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of a public housing facility; possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a public housing facility; and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.
The indictment asserts that the offenses happened on Sept 4 and 5 of last year at the New Horizons Housing Complex in Murphysboro.
Evidence at the plea hearing established that Brown-Wright sold crack cocaine to a confidential source working for law enforcement.
When agents executed a search warrant at the apartment where the drug sales took place, they found a number of guns, crack cocaine, a large amount of cash, ammunition and drug packaging materials.
The crack cocaine offenses carry a penalty of up to 40 years in federal prison, to be followed by six years of supervised release and a $2 million fine.
The firearm offense carries a penalty of five years to life in prison, followed by five years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Federal law requires that any term of imprisonment imposed on the firearm offense must be served in addition to any term imposed on the drug offenses.