A career criminal was found guilty by a Madison County jury of distributing drugs from inside the Madison County jail.
Lucas Montel Howard, AKA “Bam”, was found guilty of one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.
In October 2019, officers with the Madison County Sheriff’s Department began monitoring the outgoing jail phone calls of Howard as part of an ongoing narcotics investigation. Howard was in the detention center on other controlled substance charges. While listening to the phone calls, they discovered that Howard was continuing his drug enterprise through his girlfriend while in jail. He was directing her to go to Jackson and buy drugs and bring them back into Canton where she and others were intending to sell them out of Howard’s residence.
Upon further investigation, officers came into contact with his girlfriend and co-defendant, Alissa Washington, and discovered her bringing cocaine back from Jackson on November 2, 2019. Law enforcement officers found 26 grams of cocaine on her person after the traffic stop.
“You shouldn’t deal drugs, or commit any other crimes for that matter, while you are in jail. Mr. Howard had a lengthy and serious criminal record, and we hope that after this guilty verdict, he will receive the maximum allowed by law, said District Attorney Bubba Bramlett. “He had been convicted at least three prior times for sale of cocaine. He is a habitual offender and a subsequent drug offender and will not be parole eligible. The Madison County Sheriff’s Department did an outstanding job investigating this case and ensuring his conviction.”
Bramlett also thanked the citizens of Madison County for doing their civic duty.
“People who show up for jury duty,” Bramlett said, “are the reason we have been able to get three habitual offenders convicted this court term. Each of these men had lengthy drug histories and never seemed to learn their lesson. Now, they will be in prison for substantial amounts of time. Let this be a lesson to the drug dealers in our counties.”
