RANKIN COUNTY — A Meridian man convicted of shoplifting and multiple drug offenses in Rankin County has been sentenced to more than 45 years in prison and will be required to serve every day of the sentence, prosecutors announced.
District Attorney John K. “Bubba” Bramlett Jr. said 40-year-old Mario DeCarlos Cole was sentenced by the Rankin County Circuit Court to a total of 45 years and seven months in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
Because Cole was sentenced as a nonviolent habitual offender and a subsequent drug offender, he is not eligible for parole, probation or any reduction of his sentence.
The sentence follows a March 2026 jury trial in which Cole was found guilty of felony shoplifting, conspiracy to commit shoplifting, use of a theft detection device remover and multiple felony drug charges, including possession of methamphetamine, morphine and cocaine.
According to prosecutors, the charges stemmed from a Nov. 18, 2023, shoplifting investigation at the Belk department store in Flowood’s Dogwood Festival Market.
Officers with the Flowood Police Department responded to a report of shoplifting and later located Cole and a co-defendant in a vehicle parked near a Dollar Tree store. Investigators recovered the stolen merchandise as well as cocaine, morphine and methamphetamine from the vehicle.
During the sentencing hearing, prosecutors presented evidence of Cole’s prior felony convictions, including a 2013 conviction for sale of cocaine and a 2011 conviction for manufacturing marijuana while in possession of a firearm, both in Lauderdale County.
Those prior convictions triggered enhanced sentencing provisions under Mississippi’s habitual offender and subsequent drug offender laws, resulting in the maximum penalties allowed for the offenses.
“This sentence sends a clear message that Rankin County will not be a haven for career criminals or retail theft rings,” Bramlett said in a statement. “Through the hard work of the Flowood Police Department, the Mississippi Forensics Laboratory, and our prosecution team, a dangerous, repeat offender has been removed from our streets for a very long time.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Greg Miles and Greta Mack Harris.
