Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

ATLANTA - Demetrius Pullins, who has been convicted multiple times for illegal possession of both firearms and drugs, has been sentenced to 21 years and ten months.

“Pullins’ armed drug dealing has plagued the community for many years,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “Despite three prior felony convictions for drug trafficking spanning two decades, he was unrepentant.  This sentence ends Pullins’ ability to sell drugs in our community.”

“This sentence is a direct message to career criminals that law enforcement is observant and will not allow egregious violations of our laws to go unpunished,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Christopher Shaefer.  “ATF and our law enforcement partners will remain on the frontline to reduce violent crime by targeting career criminals such as Pullins to ensure such violators are prosecuted and removed from our streets.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: After receiving a tip about a drug stash house located at 2020 Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway (formerly Bankhead Highway), the Atlanta Police Department (APD) investigated the matter, observed a heavy volume of traffic coming to and from the residence and observed a car registered to Demetrius Pullins parked at the residence.  After APD made undercover buys of ‘crack’ cocaine from this residence, a State Court Judge issued a warrant to search the residence.  On December 14, 2012, APD executed the search warrant just as Pullins left the house.  During the search, the police seized:  two firearms, a scale, 931 grams of ‘crack’ cocaine in 485 bags, and $5,340 in United States currency.  The ‘crack’ cocaine seized from Pullins had an estimated street value of $95,000.  During his guilty plea Pullins claimed ownership of all of these items.

Pullins previous convictions were:

• May 19, 1994, he was sentenced to five years’ probation for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, arising from at November 27, 1993 arrest.
• May 19, 1994, he was sentenced to five years’ probation for possessing cocaine with intent to distribute, arising from a January 5, 1994 arrest.
• August 28, 1996, he was sentenced to three years and ten months imprisonment and three years of supervised release for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
• August 28, 1996, after he was released from federal prison, he was sentenced to an additional two years in prison for violating the terms of his supervised release because he frequented a place where illegal drugs were sold.
• February 23, 2009 he was sentenced to a ten year suspended sentence for trafficking in cocaine.

Demetrius Pullins, a/k/a “Foosie,” 40, of Atlanta, Ga., was sentenced by United States District Court Judge William S. Duffey, Jr. to 21 years and ten months of imprisonment, to be followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to forfeit the $5,340 in drug proceeds seized from him.  Pullins pleaded guilty on February 27, 2014, of possessing ‘crack’ cocaine with intent to distribute and being a felon in possession of firearms, after he pleaded guilty. 

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Atlanta Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Joseph Plummer prosecuted the case.

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