The Gazebo Gazette
GULFPORT (GG) — On Wednesday, November 12 Darmarte Carlos Epps of Tampa, Florida, pled guilty this week as a habitual offender to Possession of Cocaine with Intent before Circuit Court Judge Christopher L. Schmidt at the Harrison County Circuit Courthouse in Gulfport, Miss. After accepting the plea, Judge Schmidt sentenced Epps as a habitual offender to 28 years in prison without the possibility of early release or parole. Epps’s trial was set this week in the Circuit Court of Harrison County, First Judicial District, when he elected to plead guilty to Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute.
According to Assistant District Attorney Katherine Gargiulo, who prosecuted the case along with Assistant District Attorney George Peterman, the crime occurred on Interstate 10 in Gulfport on February 14, 2023, when a Harrison County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO)Deputy stopped Epps for multiple traffic infractions. The investigation revealed that Epps was traveling in a rental vehicle from Houston, Texas, back to Tampa, Florida.
After the HCSO Deputy noted Epps’s nervous behavior, the unlikeliness in his account of his travel, his criminal history, and additional observations made by the Deputy on scene, the officer requested a K9 unit to perform a sniff of the vehicle. After a positive K9 alert, deputies conducted a probable cause search, where they recovered over 2 kilograms of cocaine from the rear cargo area of the vehicle.
Epps was prosecuted as a habitual offender after it was discovered he had multiple prior felony convictions, including prior drug convictions, all from the state of Florida.
Judge Schmidt noted Epps’s extensive criminal history, some of which were Trafficking in Cocaine offenses, describing it as “voluminous” during the sentencing hearing. In speaking to Epps at sentencing, Judge Schmidt remarked, “I don’t think that this latest conviction would it be a one-off following your last release from the penitentiary, nor do I think that every time you committed a trafficking crime you got caught.”
“I’m grateful to the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office for their proactive work on this case. Their exceptional work took large quantities of illegal drugs off our Interstate before they could reach our neighborhoods and keeps Harrison County safe. Judge Schmidt’s sentence recognizes the seriousness of these crimes.” said District Attorney W. Crosby Parker.
Due to his status as a habitual offender, Epps will serve the 28-year sentence in the Mississippi Department of Corrections without the possibility of early release or parole.
