MS Coast man set up fentanyl sales from prison, police say. Here’s how they say he did it
A Mississippi Coast convict serving time in a federal prison in Alabama arranged bulk fentanyl sales from a stash house in Gulfport, where he kept the drugs, according to authorities.
Marcus “Spurt” Agee, 34, of Gulfport, coordinated the sales over the phone with his co-conspirators, according to Drug Enforcement Administration Agent James Nix.
The investigation began with a traffic stop in January that ultimately led to additional arrests and the seizure of over 2 pounds of fentanyl and 15,556 pressed fentanyl pills at Agee’s stash house.
Jermiya Spears lived at the home on 23rd Street in Gulfport and has since admitted she and Agee kept the drugs hidden behind an air conditioner vent in a closet there.
In the indictment unsealed in March, a federal grand jury indicted Agee and his two co-defendants, Marcus “JayBird” Taneal Lloyd, 35, and Spears, 31, on federal drug conspiracy and trafficking charges that could send them away for life.
Gulfport police, Harrison County sheriff’s deputies and DEA agents investigated the case.
Agee: ‘I don’t know why’ I’m here
Agee is accused of arranging the fentanyl sales while serving a 103-month federal prison sentence handed down in February 2022 for a firearms violation, a records search showed.
According to a records search, Agee committed the firearms violation while on parole for a 2015 conviction in Harrison County for possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. His first felony conviction came down in 2009 on state charges of possession of a controlled substance and burglary, according to court records.
In the latest case, a grand jury indicted Agee on three federal charges: one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and two counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
The grand jury indicted Lloyd and Spears on one count each of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl.
During his initial appearance Monday, a federal judge asked Agee if he knew why he was back in court.
“I don’t know why,” Agee said, and requested a detention hearing that the judge set for Tuesday.
On Tuesday, U.S. Marshals escorted Agee into federal court in Gulfport for a detention hearing, but after talking to his attorney and reviewing records in the case, he waived the hearing. Judge Robert Myers ordered him held without bond, though Agee is also still serving his federal sentence for the gun charge.
The DEA agent who headed up the investigation provided a detailed summary of the latest allegations against Agee and his two co-defendants.
A traffic stop, ‘juices,’ and ‘making a play’
According to Nix, the investigation began in January when Gulfport police conducted a traffic stop that resulted in one arrest and the seizure of over seven grams of fentanyl. Afterward, the driver agreed to work undercover with authorities to set up another drug deal with his supplier.
The informant let authorities listen in when he called Agee in prison to arrange the purchase of two ounces of fentanyl. Agee told the caller he had to make a quick call but would call the buyer back.
Agee called his courier, identified as Lloyd, and asked him if he wanted to “make a play,” meaning a drug deal, for a buyer who wanted some “juices,” a code word Agee used to refer to fentanyl.
Lloyd agreed, and Agee called the informant back as authorities listened in.
On the call, according to the federal agent, Agee instructed Lloyd to pick up two ounces of fentanyl from the stash house to sell to the buyer for $2,000. Agee told Lloyd to keep $500 for himself for picking up from the stash house on 23rd Street and delivering the drugs.
Agee had set up the pickup location behind the Sonic on Highway 49 in Gulfport.
When Lloyd showed up to make the sale, he saw police and drug agents at the scene and attempted to run away, but authorities caught up with him.
Gulfport police initially arrested Lloyd and Spears on state drug charges, but the allegations of wrongdoing ultimately led to federal charges against them and Agee.
