PENSACOLA, Florida — A Fort Walton Beach man has pleaded guilty in federal court to drug trafficking and firearm offences after cocaine and a loaded handgun were seized at his home, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida
Anthony Bernard Allen, 54, of Fort Walton Beach, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, as well as possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
The Drug Enforcement Administration published the same plea announcement on October 26, adding that Allen's sentencing is scheduled for December 29, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola before U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II. Local station WMBB in Panama City also reported the plea.
Source: U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (Oct. 26, 2026)
What the searches found
Court documents reflect that on March 19, 2026, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Allen's Fort Walton Beach residence, where officers seized 950 grams of cocaine, 37 grams of cocaine base, a loaded handgun and ammunition, prosecutors said. Allen is a convicted felon who cannot legally possess a firearm or ammunition.
Less than a month later, on April 17, 2026, Allen was the subject of a traffic stop where officers observed him attempting to discard a bag of cocaine onto the ground, prosecutors said.
Sentence ahead
Allen faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and up to 40 years' imprisonment, followed by up to a lifetime of supervised release, prosecutors said.
"Our state and federal law enforcement partners are relentlessly pursuing the armed drug traffickers who have plagued our communities," U.S. Attorney Heekin said. "My message to the peddlers of drugs in this district is clear: your days are numbered, and a federal prison cell is in your future."
The case was investigated by the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Brooke D. Lindsay is prosecuting the case.