The Gazebo Gazette
GULFPORT (GG) — On Wednesday, November 12 Darmarte Carlos Epps of Tampa, Florida, pled guilty this week as a habitual offender to Possession of Cocaine with Intent before Circuit Court Judge Christopher L. Schmidt at the Harrison County Circuit Courthouse in Gulfport, Miss. After accepting the plea, Judge Schmidt sentenced Epps as a habitual offender to 28 years in prison without the possibility of early release or parole. Epps’s trial was set this week in the Circuit Court of Harrison County, First Judicial District, when he elected to plead guilty to Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute.
According to Assistant District Attorney Katherine Gargiulo, who prosecuted the case along with Assistant District Attorney George Peterman, the crime occurred on Interstate 10 in Gulfport on February 14, 2023, when a Harrison County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO)Deputy stopped Epps for multiple traffic infractions. The investigation revealed that Epps was traveling in a rental vehicle from Houston, Texas, back to Tampa, Florida…