Pensacola, Florida – Jeffrey Benjamin Banks, 45, of Pensacola, Florida, has been indicted in federal court for one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine, 5 grams or more of methamphetamine and fentanyl and one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and 40 grams or more of fentanyl. John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida announced the charges.
Banks appeared in federal court for his arraignment before United States Magistrate Judge Hope T. Cannon in Pensacola, Florida. Jury trial is scheduled for October 19, 2026, at 8:30 am before United States District Court Judge T. Kent Wetherell, II in Pensacola, Florida.
If convicted, Banks faces at least 10 years’ imprisonment up to life imprisonment on the possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine, 5 grams or more of methamphetamine and fentanyl count. Banks also faces at least 25 years’ imprisonment up to life imprisonment on the possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and 40 grams or more of fentanyl count.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Pensacola Police Department, and the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jessica S. Etherton and Alicia H. Forbes. An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF comprises agents and officers from multiple agencies with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.