Major Victory Against Meth Trafficking: 1,400 Grams Seized, Repeat Offender Sentenced to 30 Years

BAY COUNTY, FL - A man found with more than 1,400 grams of methamphetamine in his truck after he fled an attempted stop was found guilty as charged Wednesday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Devan A. McDonald, 30, of Panama City, was found guilty of Trafficking in Methamphetamine (more than 200 grams) about 1 hour after Prosecutor Frank Sullivan gave his closing argument.

The first-degree felony has a maximum penalty of up to 30 years in prison, with a minimum/mandatory 15 years under Florida’s enhanced trafficking laws. Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark agreed with Sullivan that the maximum was appropriate in this case, and sentenced the defendant to 30 years and fined him $250,000.

“This is an important win for our office, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, and the residents of our community,” Sullivan said. “The arrest and seizure of such a large amount of methamphetamine before it hit the streets kept it from doing more damage. This defendant has shown he has no regard for the dangers this poison poses or the consequences, so a 30-year-sentence will stop him from having another chance for a long time.”

The defendant was released from prison in 2019 on a methamphetamine trafficking charge. At the time of this offense, he was out on bond for another meth trafficking charge.

Sullivan called four witnesses and provided evidence, including a large bag of methamphetamine that covered the top of the court podium, to prove the State’s case.

The testimony and evidence showed the Bay County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Division was working a case that led to the defendant agreeing to sell a large amount of methamphetamine on March 7, 2023.

The defendant was under surveillance leading up to the transaction and, for safety reasons, the decision was made to stop him after he was seen placing a large bag in his truck from a residence near the meeting site. 

When deputies attempted to box him in, he rammed one of them and fled. He was captured about a mile away, slowed by traffic and deputies.

“There’s only one reason for him to flee: because of that big bag of drugs he had in the back seat,” Sullivan told jurors in his closing argument. “The evidence in this case is that Mr. McDonald put that black bag in his vehicle just before deputies stopped him. That’s the evidence.”

A search of his truck turned up about 1,365 grams of methamphetamine in the bag investigators saw him place in the truck. He had $1,200 cash in his pocket. A search of the residence where he picked up the meth turned up about another 71 grams of the drug and $9,000 in cash.