Repeat Federal Offender Sentenced to 24 Years for Storing 110 Kilos of Cocaine, Fentanyl in Buckhead

A man with three prior federal drug trafficking convictions has been sentenced to 292 months in prison for possessing with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl.

Mekael Desean Daniels, 55, of Dallas, Georgia, was arrested on December 9, 2022, while storing 110 kilograms of cocaine and 62 grams of fentanyl at a Buckhead-area condominium. At the time, Daniels was also attempting to deliver $600,000 in drug proceeds to money launderers working for a transnational drug trafficking organization.

According to prosecutors, Daniels conspired in 2022 to transport cocaine and fentanyl from Mexico to Atlanta. His condominium served as a stash house supplying his network with large quantities of cocaine. Agents searching his residence found the cocaine, fentanyl pressed into oxycodone-marked pills, $66,000 in drug proceeds, and a ledger documenting $500,000 in transactions. In a vehicle linked to Daniels parked in the condominium garage, agents discovered $500,000 in cash and another $100,000 in a shoebox, all identified as recent cocaine sales proceeds.

This conviction marks Daniels’s fourth federal drug trafficking case in the district, following convictions for cocaine possession with intent to distribute in 1995 and 2000, and heroin possession with intent to distribute in 2012. He also has a 2000 conviction for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Daniels engaged in the 2022 conspiracy just one year after completing his prison sentence for the 2012 case.

On March 27, 2025, Daniels pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl. United States District Judge Steven D. Grimberg sentenced him to 24 years and 4 months in federal prison, followed by lifetime supervised release.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth M. Hathaway and Austin M. Hall, along with former Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua May.