A Newport News man has been sentenced to six years and six months in prison for drug and firearm offenses. Torrean Dontae Whitlow, 34, was convicted of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.
Court documents reveal that on July 12, 2023, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) noticed Whitlow with an extended magazine protruding from his waistband. Previously convicted in 2008 for arson and in 2013 for being a felon in possession of a firearm, Whitlow is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition. Agents observed him conducting suspected narcotics transactions with four individuals within ten minutes at a Hampton parking lot.
The ATF informed the Hampton Police Department officers who also witnessed Whitlow engaging in suspected drug deals while carrying the visible firearm magazine. After leaving the scene in a taxi, he was arrested by police officers who discovered a handgun with a 32-round magazine during their search.
Following his arrest, law enforcement executed a search warrant on the vehicle used by Whitlow for narcotics transactions. They found two scales along with plastic baggies containing cocaine and methamphetamine.
Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Anthony A. Spotswood, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Washington Field Division; and Jimmie Wideman, Chief of Hampton Police announced this after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lisa R. McKeel and Alyson C. Yates alongside Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marcus Johnson and Alyssa Levey-Weinstein prosecuted the case.
Further details are available on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia as well as through related court documents accessible via PACER under Case No. 4:23-cr-91.