ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Two St. Petersburg men have pleaded guilty to possessing controlled substances intending to distribute them after a shooting and high-speed chase.
Armani Dilworth, 28, and Lemar Cowart, 27, each faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
Armani Dilworth, 28, has also pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking offense and faces a minimum mandatory penalty of five years, up to life, in federal prison for the firearm offense, to run consecutive to the other sentence imposed. Sentencing dates have not yet been set.
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According to court documents, on May 4, 2020, an eyewitness observed a vehicle, occupied by Dilworth and Cowart, pull into oncoming traffic and shoot into the front of another vehicle.
This action caused the other vehicle to retaliate, and a high-speed chase ensued.
The car which Dilworth and Cowart occupied ultimately crashed into a gate at Azalea Middle School, and Cowart and Dilworth ran from the vehicle. Inside the vehicle, officers found cocaine, two substances containing a mixture of heroin and fentanyl, alprazolam, oxycodone, amphetamine, buprenorphine, and cannabis.
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They also found evidence of narcotics distribution inside the vehicle including plastic baggies, two scales, scissors, and a firearm.
Both Dilworth and Cowart’s DNA were found on the firearm recovered from the vehicle.
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