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Portsmouth man sentenced to five years for federal drug and gun charges

Posted at 5:56 PM, Oct 17, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-17 22:12:46-04

PORTSMOUTH, Va. – A Portsmouth man was sentenced to 67 months in a federal prison for federal drug and gun charges. Kenneth Meeks and his father Kenneth Matthews were arrested and charged with federal gun charges in August 2015.

Meeks pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and two counts of felon possession of a firearm.

Federal agents seized more than $30,000 worth of cocaine, 35 firearms and digital scales from two Portsmouth homes – one in the 600 block of Normandy Street and one in the 100 block of Yorkshire Road.

According to Meeks’ attorney, the more than 5-year sentence is half the recommended time for the felonies he pleaded guilty to. The judge in the case took into consideration that Meeks cooperated with officials, according to the attorney. Court documents state Meeks was a witness for the Commonwealth against his father. Kenneth Matthews will be sentenced in January. Court documents show Meeks has a one-month-old son named Camden.

Included in the court documents were nine character letters sent to the judge in hopes of a leaner sentence for Meeks. One letter standing out was written by Meeks’ mother Alease.

In the letter Alease wrote, “I had my son very young and married his father at a young age as well the marriage did not last long because his father had bad habits and was putting Kenneth and I in the middle of his drug selling.” Alease also wrote how she tried to fill the void of a father figure, but couldn’t. She also wrote she tried her best to shield Meeks from his father because she did not want him to follow in his father’s footsteps.

Kenneth Meeks and Kenneth Matthews were investigated for illegal weapons possessions, and were charged after as a result of the investigation.

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