Department of Justice

Memphis, TN – Markeis Ivy, 24, has been sentenced to 75 months in federal prison for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant for the Western District of Tennessee announced the sentence today.

According to information presented in court, on May 2, 2019, while on targeted patrol in the area of Springdale and Howell area, undercover law enforcement encountered a blue Camaro that had stopped in the middle of the road as the occupants in the vehicle talked to people standing along the street. As the officers pulled around the Camaro, the driver pointed an AR type rifle at one of the undercover officers. Law enforcement then radioed for assistance.

Arriving to the scene, law enforcement spotted the suspect vehicle with its passenger side door open in front of a residence on Howell Street. The officers gave commands for the occupants to show their hands when the passenger side door closed and the vehicle reversed at a high rate of speed. The vehicle made a U-turn and accelerated, hitting the undercover vehicle and chain link fence at the rear of the apartment complex. The car then stopped.

As one man attempted to run, he was captured and placed into custody. Officers saw Ivy reaching for the driver’s side floorboard and pulled him out of the car. There was a struggle, and officers were required to restrain Ivy by the use of a taser before placing him into custody. As they picked him up off the ground, a plastic Ziploc bag containing four other small plastic bags fell from his person, which contained 73 oxycodone pills, 12 Xanax pills, marijuana, and $1,879 in U.S. currency.

Officers found a black assault rifle on the driver’s side floorboard of the vehicle and a black assault-style handgun on the passenger side floorboard, a 70-round magazine, a Glock 40 caliber magazine, and a FN 57 magazine.

On November 26, 2019, law enforcement served a search warrant at Ivy’s residence in Cordova, Tennessee and found 29.94 grams of marijuana in two bags, a digital scale, and approximately $6,000 in U.S. currency on his person.

Also found in the residence were the following:

• MAG Tactical AR15 Model G4 Variant Pistol, one round in the chamber and a loaded 30 round magazine, 5.56 caliber ammunition, a 24 round 5.56 caliber magazine removed from the pistol.
• American Tactical Hybrid .223 caliber Short Barrel Rifle with a loaded 60 round extended magazine.
• Glock 9mm handgun loaded with an extended magazine, 32 total rounds.
• Ruger 9mm pistol with one round in the chamber and a loaded magazine.
• Sig 229 magazine, and 12 Speer .40 caliber rounds.
• Body armor vest.
• 19 rounds of 9mm ammunition in a baggie on the kitchen counter.
• Three rounds of assorted ammunition on the kitchen counter.
• One round of Riocchi ammunition.
• 50 round drum magazine located on the kitchen counter.

On October 7, 2020, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Ivy to 75 months in federal prison followed by 3 years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said, "Armed drug dealers pose a significant public safety risk to our communities and law enforcement, and must be punished and incapacitated in a meaningful way. This outstanding investigation removed multiple firearms from the hands of a dangerous offender, and this sentence will reduce the threat of addiction, injury, violence, and death in Memphis."

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Memphis Police Department – Crump Station Task Force.

Assistant U.S. Attorney P. Neal Oldham prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

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