A Nottingham man is facing upwards of 2 decades in prison after being convicted on drug charges this week.
On Thursday, March 8, a federal jury convicted Corey Hammond, 30, of Nottingham, of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.
Evidence presented at the four-day trial included intercepted coded cell phone calls in which Hammond discussed with another co-conspirator “2 Peyton Mannings” which a Drug Enforcement Administration officer interpreted to mean a kilogram of cocaine.
Peyton Manning wore number 18 on his jersey and 18 ounces of cocaine equals 504 grams, or one-half of a kilogram.
The jury saw also presented with an intercepted text message from yet another co-conspirator which read: “256000 total at 32000.” Evidence at trial established the price of each kilogram of cocaine was valued at $32,000. The text message, according to the sender of the text and who testified at trial, represented 8 kilograms…256,000 divided by 32,000 equals eight. Upon receiving the text message, Hammond sent a text of his own, which read “Don’t text. We already agreed. We’re on the same page.”
During the course of the trial, the jury also saw evidence of a seizure of almost 15 kilograms of cocaine, along with more than $520,000 in cash seized from Hammond’s co-conspirators.
Hammond, who previously had been convicted of a narcotics related offense in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is facing a minimum mandatory sentence of 20 years, without parole.
