Ocala, Florida – Senior U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore has sentenced Kevin Gene Hart (31, Ocala) to 35 years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. The court also sentenced Hart to supervised release for the remainder of his life following his release from prison.
A federal jury had found Hart guilty after a four-day jury trial on November 7, 2019. Hart was indicted, along with five co-conspirators, on March 27, 2019.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, between January 2012 and May 2019, Hart was the leader of a sprawling drug trafficking conspiracy that distributed hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and heroin through a network of stash houses in Marion County. Large quantities of the heroin were laced with fentanyl.
The following co-defendants previously pleaded guilty for their roles in this case and were sentenced to the following terms of imprisonment: Gary Eugene Hayes (15 years); Darren Michael Beatty (15 years); Jeremy Jermaine Willis (20 years); Kathy Suleydy (8 years, 1 month); and Deandre Amaad Williams (10 years).
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Ocala Police Department, the Unified Drug Enforcement Strike Team (UDEST), the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William S. Hamilton.
