BRUNSWICK, Ga. – A 28-year-old Brunswick man was sentenced Monday to six years in prison on drug trafficking and firearms-related charges in what authorities called a “21 Jump Street” investigation.
Joseph Mincey previously pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine and marijuana with intent to distribute and to possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
According to evidence presented during Mincey’s guilty plea and sentencing hearings, investigators of the Glynn-Brunswick Narcotics Enforcement Team (GBNET) initiated an investigation to identify individuals dealing drugs at a local public high school.
As part of the investigation, a young looking undercover police officer was introduced into the high school, posing as a student, similar to the plot of the “21 Jump Street” TV and movie series. Mincey was later identified as a dealer of cocaine and marijuana, investigators said.
In November and December of 2015, Mincey sold the undercover officer cocaine, believing the officer to be a high school student.
Mincey’s grandmother, who faced state drug charges, assisted in several of the drug transactions.
On the date of Mincey’s arrest in January 2016, law enforcement seized two loaded firearms, $2,300 in cash, several pounds of marijuana, cocaine and other drug trafficking supplies.
“It can’t get any worse than a drug dealer and his grandmother selling poison in our schools,” U.S. Attorney Edward Tarver said. “It is unfortunate that the life lessons learned by this defendant led him to a seven-year federal prison sentence.”
Tarver mentioned that there is no parole in the federal system.
The investigation of this case was conducted by the GBNET and the ATF.