Champaign man gets 10 years for having 2 pounds of cocaine

URBANA — A Champaign man who admitted he possessed more than 2 pounds of cocaine intended for sale in Champaign in 2010 has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Michael McCuskey gave Jackie T. Nolan, 32, whose last known address was in the 2900 block of Blair Drive, an extra 10 months on top of that for having the drugs while he was on supervised release for an earlier cocaine-related conviction.

Nolan pleaded guilty in January 2011 to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, admitting that he had the drugs in his home July 16, 2010, when Champaign police searched it.

According to facts laid out in his written plea agreement, police served the search warrant when they saw him leaving his home. During a pat-down search of Nolan, they found $8,095 cash in his pants pocket.

He admitted to police there was a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cocaine in a car in his garage, a little over 1 ounce under a work bench in his garage, 9 ounces in his dishwasher, and 4 ounces in a locked safe. Police found those amounts.

In addition, police found about 2 1/2 pounds of cannabis in the garage, digital scales, an inoperable shotgun, and bottles of cutting agent typically used with cocaine.

Nolan told a police officer he had been buying about 1 kilogram of cocaine a month from his supplier for the previous six months at $30,000 per kilo. Some of it had been given to him on consignment, he said, and he owed his dealer $30,000. Prior to dealing with that supplier, Nolan told police, he obtained 9 to 18 ounces of cocaine from a different person on three or four occasions.

At sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene Miller asked for 11 years and eight months while Assistant U.S. Public Defender John Taylor asked for the mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison.