Covington Man Sentenced to 63 Months for Conspiracy to Distribute Crack Cocaine

COVINGTON, Ky. - A Covington man, Robert Copeland, 43, was sentenced in federal court on Friday, to 63 months in prison, by U.S. District Judge David Bunning, after previously admitting to conspiring with others to distribute crack cocaine.

In his plea agreement, Copeland admitted that he conspired with another individual Dennis Duane Free to distribute crack cocaine between October 1, 2018 and April 2, 2019. During this time, law enforcement conducted control buys of crack cocaine from Free.

Copeland pleaded guilty in June 2020.  Free, Copeland’s co-defendant, was sentenced in May 2020 and received 132 months in prison and three years of supervised release.

Under federal law, Copeland must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon his release, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for five years.

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and James Robert Brown, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Louisville Field Office, jointly made the announcement. 

The investigation was directed by the FBI Safe Street’s Task Force.  The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Wade Napier.

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice.  Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.

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