NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Norfolk Circuit Court jury convicted a man of possessing drugs with the intent to distribute them after police found more than 160 grams of illegal substances, including fentanyl, heroin and cocaine, on him during a 2024 arrest, the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office said Friday.
Jamel Alim Yancey, 48, was found guilty Thursday of possessing Schedule I/II drugs and possessing Schedule I/II drugs with the intent to distribute them. A second offense charge of manufacturing/distribution of Schedule I/II drugs was dismissed, according to online court records.
“The United States remains in an overdose crisis, with the advent of ‘tranq’ threatening to undo the progress that we have started to make as a nation,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi in a statement. “We have secured a conviction in this case, and we will seek appropriate accountability at sentencing, including drug treatment, but if we want to address the root causes of drug dealing and drug addiction, we must invest in our communities, especially in evidence-based treatment for substance-use disorder outside of the criminal justice system. Otherwise, we will continue to watch history repeat itself in the courtroom.”
According to court documents and testimony, Yancey was spotted by Norfolk Police officers just after midnight June 9, 2024 at a gas station on Chesapeake Boulevard in the driver’s seat of his car with an open container of alcohol in the cupholder…