NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Author's note: The video above is on file from August 2021.
A man who sometimes stayed in Newport News was convicted of selling more than five kilograms of cocaine in federal court, after admitting to law enforcement that he'd distributed more than 500 kilograms in a three-year period.
For reference, 500 kilograms is the same weight as an adult horse or a grand piano.
Jessica Aber, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said the Newport News Police Department played a hand in bringing Trezith Smart to justice.
Smart, 40, had homes in Edenton, North Carolina, and Newport News. Aber said he would drive between those homes and Houston, Texas, to pick up drugs, and then come back to this area to sell the cocaine.
The first time he was taken into custody for having cocaine was in 2017. Louisiana State Police pulled him over for speeding and found five kilograms of cocaine with him.
Aber said he left jail on bond that time, came back to Newport News, and continued to sell drugs.
In 2018, she said Smart sold cocaine to a middleman who turned around and sold them to an undercover investigator.
Three months later, NNPD officers stopped him and found he had an ounce of cocaine and $15,000 in cash.
In November 2018, Smart told law enforcement that he'd sold more than 500 kilograms of cocaine since 2015.
He was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and distribution of cocaine. The charges come with a sentencing range of 10 years to life in prison.
He won't officially be given a sentence until March 2022.