Last week, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution secured a 25-year prison sentence for the leader of a drug-trafficking organization selling cocaine and heroin in Gadsden and Leon Counties.
A Leon County jury found Kevin Choute guilty of trafficking heroin over 28 grams, trafficking cocaine over 400 grams, conspiracy to traffic cocaine over 400 grams and felon in possession of a firearm.
Moody said, “Drug traffickers profit from the misery of others, but in Florida we are making sure they pay dearly for their crimes. The defendant in our case found out the hard way that crime never pays, and thanks to our great law enforcement partners and my Statewide Prosecutors he will be behind bars for a long time.”
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement began investigating Choute as part of Operation No Warning, a law enforcement effort that took down 27 suspected drug dealers in Gadsden and Leon counties. Using wiretap interceptions and physical surveillance, the investigation revealed Choute as the leader of a sophisticated drug-trafficking organization. A search of Choute’s home yielded three kilograms of cocaine and approximately 714 grams of heroin. The investigation also uncovered that Choute regularly traveled to California to purchase cocaine and heroin from illicit drug suppliers.
The Honorable Judge Stephen Everett sentenced Choute to 25 years in prison, followed by 10 years of probation.
Moody’s OSP, FDLE, the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Highway Patrol and Tallahassee Police Department participated in the investigation. Assistant Statewide Prosecutors Guillermo Vallejo and Jae Hee Kim handled the case.
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