Tampa Man Gets Prison Sentence For Selling Cocaine And Firearms To Confidential Informant

Movies about the criminal underworld make confidential informants look like cool antiheroes, but acting as an informant in a drug investigation is a delicate balancing act.  The ideal plea deal would be one that enables you to serve your probation or your relatively brief prison sentence and then move on with your life.  Being an informant in a drug trafficking case means remaining in contact with drug traffickers who could turn from fellow travelers to enemies at any moment for months, if not years, longer than you want to.  The reason that police continue to use evidence gathered by informants is that it is some of the strongest evidence possible to convict defendants charged with drug trafficking.  If you are being charged with participating in a drug trafficking operation after interacting with a confidential informant, contact a Florida drug sales and trafficking attorney.

A Drug Deal Nearly a Year in the Making

If you ever need proof that a person’s online presence does not tell the whole story, look no farther than Georgi Milenev Solakov.  His photo appears on a fitness coaching site next to a testimonial he wrote.  In his testimonial, he tells the story of how, when he was 20 years old, he moved from Bulgaria to Tampa to study at the University of South Florida.  He says that he got caught up in the college party culture before getting serious about fitness and about becoming a responsible adult.

The Internet doesn’t tell us what happened after that, except for a single press release from the United States Department of Justice.  According to the DOJ, Solakov spent the better part of the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic planning to sell drugs and weapons to a confidential informant.  He first exchanged text messages with the informant in April 2020.  The DOJ press release did not say why law enforcement had instructed the informant to communicate with Solakov.  The informant originally asked about drugs, but Solakov also offered to sell him weapons, saying he could sell him AR-15s at a competitive price.  In March 2021, Solakov met with the informant and sold him a kilogram of cocaine and 174 MDMA pills, plus a rifle and ammunition.

Solakov, 29, was charged with possession of 500 grams or more of cocaine with intent to distribute and with carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.  He pleaded guilty to the charges in September 2021.  In February 2022, he received a sentence of ten years in federal prison.  This is a much shorter sentence than he likely would have received if he had been convicted of the charges at trial.

Contact FL Drug Defense Group About Criminal Charges for Distribution of Cocaine

A Central Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges for selling drugs to a confidential informant.  Contact FL Drug Defense Group in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.

Sources:

justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/tampa-man-sentenced-10-years-federal-prison-distributing-cocaine-while-carrying-firearm

crisiscoachinggroup.com/gystribe