On Thursday, prosecutors revealed that an Atlanta drug trafficker, who had been pardoned by former President Joe Biden for fentanyl trafficking charges, has been arrested again on new allegations of hiding the dangerous opioid.
Walter Lee Muhammad, 46, faced federal charges for possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance in a court located in the Northern District of Georgia, as announced by federal prosecutors.
This latest encounter with law enforcement comes less than two years after Muhammad had his 10-year sentence commuted by then-President Biden in February 2020 for a previous conviction of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
“Despite being given a second chance, this defendant returned to trafficking fentanyl and risked his life,” said Jay W. Chung, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division, in a press release.
According to prosecutors, Muhammad was among 1,498 federal inmates whose sentences were commuted by Biden on December 12, 2024.
Authorities explained that Muhammad’s latest charges arose from an August 5 arrest of drug suspects in Atlanta by DEA agents, during which he loaded several bags into his BMW before driving over 330 miles to Greensboro, North Carolina.
A traffic stop initiated by a K-9 unit from the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office uncovered 29 kilograms of suspected cocaine in Muhammad’s vehicle, resulting in his immediate arrest, prosecutors reported.
The following day, DEA agents executed a search at Muhammad’s Atlanta apartment, uncovering more narcotics, including 7 kilograms of suspected heroin and 2 kilograms of suspected fentanyl.
A federal complaint detailing the charges against the drug trafficker was filed the next day, and he appeared before a federal judge in North Carolina on August 13.
Prosecutors indicated that Muhammad is due to appear in court again in the Northern District of Georgia at an undetermined future date and is presently in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Besides the recent allegations, Muhammad also has a history of drug trafficking convictions. He was previously found guilty of conspiracy to distribute cocaine in August 1999 and conspiracy to distribute marijuana in November 2010.
It remains unclear who is representing Mr. Muhammad legally.
