JACKSONVILLE – With help from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. District Judge Harvey Schlesinger sentenced Yaquasia Delcarmen, 28, Jacksonville, to eight years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute 50 kilograms or more of marijuana and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The court also entered an order for forfeiture of $1,760,210, the proceeds of the drug trafficking conspiracy. Delcarmen pleaded guilty on June 27.

According to court documents, between October 2022 and her arrest in April, Delcarmen served as a manager and supervisor of an armed drug trafficking organization (DTO), led by her boyfriend, Nathaniel Hatcher, III. The DTO acquired bulk quantities of marijuana from various grow operations in northern California, where they used one of Hatcher’s residences to weigh and package the marijuana. From there, DTO members, including Delcarmen, smuggled marijuana in suitcases and they flew commercially back to Jacksonville. Once the marijuana arrived in Jacksonville, Delcarmen and her co-conspirators distributed the marijuana from various short-term rental homes throughout Jacksonville, primarily in the Riverside and San Marco neighborhoods. Delcarmen and other DTO members possessed and carried firearms at these residences to protect their drugs, their drug proceeds, and themselves during drug sales. Delcarmen specifically was responsible for collecting drug proceeds from the DTO’s various dealers and laundering the proceeds back into bank accounts controlled by her and Hatcher.

During the conspiracy, Delcarmen and others used sham business accounts that were formed to launder illicit proceeds. Hatcher and Delcarmen spent the drug proceeds on lavish lifestyle items, including luxury vehicles and rental homes, and vacations to Miami, Hawaii and California.

After federal agents arrested Hatcher in February 2024, Delcarmen conducted drug trafficking activities on Hatcher’s behalf while he was incarcerated. At Hatcher’s direction, Delcarmen coordinated additional drug sales and attempted to obstruct the federal investigation. Specifically, at Hatcher’s direction, Delcarmen publicly posted the identity of a witness in the investigation on social media to intimidate the witness and prevent their testimony. After her arrest, Delcarmen violated her bond conditions more than 1,000 times by maintaining direct and indirect contact with Hatcher, who she had been ordered to have no contact with while on bond. During the drug trafficking conspiracy, Delcarmen was responsible for trafficking between 100 and 400 kilograms of marijuana. During the money laundering conspiracy, Delcarmen was responsible for laundering at least $1.7 million in drug proceeds.

Delcarmen’s co-conspirators pled guilty to their roles in the Hatcher DTO in related court proceedings. Specifically, Desmond Maxwell pled guilty to straw-purchasing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and faces up to 25 years in federal prison.

Al’Donta Easterling pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He faces a minimum of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison.

James Toney pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana, a drive-by shooting in furtherance of a major drug offense and discharging a firearm during and to a crime of violence. He faces a minimum of 15 years, up to life, in federal prison. Hatcher has been charged by indictment and is scheduled for trial next year.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

This case was investigated by CCSO, Homeland Security Investigations, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aakash Singh and Kirwinn Mike are prosecuting it.