Knox County felon convicted on cocaine, gun possession charges after parole search

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ( WATE ) — A man described by the District Attorney General’s Office as a “habitual drug offender” is facing decades in prison after he was convicted by a Knox County jury of cocaine and firearms charges.

According to a release from the DA’s Office, Justin Orlando Mack , 43, was convicted of Possession with Intent to Sell Cocaine, Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Dangerous Felony, and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.

During the two-day trial in a Knox County courtroom, prosecutors told the jury that on July 28, 2022, Knoxville Police Department officers and Tennessee Department of Correction parole officers conducted a parole check at Mack’s residence where they found cocaine, cash and a loaded handgun. Specifically, officers located 36 grams of cocaine in the kitchen – which equates to about 200 individual uses of cocaine, the DA’s Office said – along with $15,000 cash and a loaded firearm in a bathroom. Mack was reportedly Mirandized and admitted possession of the cocaine.

Mack has six prior felony convictions in Knox and Sevier counties, five of which were for distributing cocaine, the DA’s Office said, and served prison time for these previous convictions before getting released on parole. Mack was still on parole when he committed the most recent offenses, and the DA’s Office noted that Mack was identified as a member of the Bloods criminal street gang.

“Habitual offenders who do not take advantage of multiple opportunities to change their criminal behavior can expect to receive lengthy prison sentences,” DA Charme Allen stated in the news release.

Knox County Criminal Court Judge Hector Sanchez set Mack’s case for sentencing on Nov. 14. Mack faces a minimum of 42 years in prison because of his prior criminal convictions.

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