KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ( WATE ) — A man described by the District Attorney General’s Office as a “habitual drug offender” is facing decades in prison after he was convicted by a Knox County jury of cocaine and firearms charges.
According to a release from the DA’s Office, Justin Orlando Mack , 43, was convicted of Possession with Intent to Sell Cocaine, Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Dangerous Felony, and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.
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During the two-day trial in a Knox County courtroom, prosecutors told the jury that on July 28, 2022, Knoxville Police Department officers and Tennessee Department of Correction parole officers conducted a parole check at Mack’s residence where they found cocaine, cash and a loaded handgun. Specifically, officers located 36 grams of cocaine in the kitchen – which equates to about 200 individual uses of cocaine, the DA’s Office said – along with $15,000 cash and a loaded firearm in a bathroom. Mack was reportedly Mirandized and admitted possession of the cocaine.