Slocomb man gets 12 years for cocaine distribution

A Slocomb man received a dozen years in federal prison Tuesday for possession with intent to distribute more than half a kilogram of cocaine from a Dothan hotel room.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Clark Morris said Larrick Rowe, 30, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the two count federal indictment he’d previously pleaded guilty to in federal court. Morris said Rowe received a seven-year sentence for the possession with intent to distribute 500 or more grams of cocaine and an additional five years for the use of three handguns during a drug trafficking offense. According to court records, Rowe pleaded guilty to using two .38-caliber handguns and a .25-caliber handgun during the trafficking offense on May 9, 2008.

“I think it was a just sentence given the amount of drugs, the firearms, and his criminal history,” Morris said. “This wasn’t his first trip to the rodeo.”

Morris said police seized an estimated $25,000 worth of drugs during Rowe’s arrest at a Best Western hotel room on Montgomery Highway. Morris said investigators seized nearly a kilo of cocaine, along with some methamphetamine and marijuana after they served a search warrant at the hotel room.

According to court records, Rowe admitted to trying to destroy some of the drugs after he was handcuffed by Houston County Sheriff’s deputies inside the hotel room. Records show deputies used a Tazer on Rowe after he fought with them inside the hotel room.

Crystal Copeland was also arrested by deputies when the search warrant was served. They also found the couple’s infant son inside the hotel room. Records show officials with the Department of Human Resources took custody of the baby boy.