ADEL, Ga. (WTXL) — An investigation by the Adel Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration resulted in a 29-year-old woman being arrested for maintaining a drug house in Adel, Ga.
Facing federal charges, 29-year-old Kiera Keann Cooksey pleaded guilty to one count of using or maintaining a drug premise before U.S. District Judge Louis Sands on Tuesday, Jan. 12.
Cooksey faces a maximum 20 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release and a $500,000 fine, according to Peter D. Leary, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. There is no parole in the federal system. A sentencing date has not been scheduled.
According to the plea agreement, Adel Police Department officers, working with a Confidential Informant, began an investigation into the sale of illegal narcotics at Cooksey’s residence.
Four controlled purchases were conducted at the residence. On May 11, 2017, officers executed a search warrant, arresting Cooksey and a co-defendant, Frederick Moore, aka “Iron Man,” 32, of Adel.
Officers found ten packages of cocaine weighing approximately 232 grams stuffed in a toilet, cocaine base, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and a firearm.
Cooksey admitted in her signed plea agreement that she knowingly used and maintained her Adel residence for the purpose of distributing cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana between March 30, 2017, and May 12, 2017.
“The penalty is steep for individuals who knowingly use their home to facilitate the distribution of illegal drugs—a maximum 20 years in prison, without parole,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Leary. “I want to thank the Adel Police Department and the DEA for their work investigating this case.”
The investigation was conducted by the Adel Police Department and the DEA. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sonja Profit.
Federal charges remain pending against co-defendant Moore: one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, one count of distribution of marijuana, one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and one count of possessing a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. An indictment is only an allegation of criminal conduct. Moore is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law beyond a reasonable doubt.
