Raleigh man sentenced to more than 12 years for cocaine distribution

Kencheul Jacques, 37, pled guilty to the charge on July 30, 2020.

In June of 2017, a Raleigh police officer conducted a drug investigation into street-level drug sales around Bragg Street by using a confidential informant to make a controlled purchase of crack cocaine from Jacques.

When the informant noticed several men gathered near a convenience store on Bragg Street, he asked if anyone had any substances. According to officials, Jacques then asked what the informant wanted, who requested $40 worth of crack cocaine.

Jacques led the informant into the store, where Jacques reportedly produced a plastic bag of the requested illicit substance. The informant paid Jacques, then took the bag of substances to a lab for analysis, which confirmed the illegal substance as crack cocaine.

In 2019, Raleigh police began more surveillance on the Bragg Street area. An officer saw a man approach Jacques, who then "placed something behind a fire hydrant, then handed something to the man."

The officers stopped the man and found a small amount of crack cocaine in his wallet. Behind the fire hydrant, officers found a bag containing 10.17 grams of crack cocaine.

"Jacques was determined to be a Career Offender based on his record of twelve prior convictions, including convictions for Selling Cocaine, Delivering Cocaine, and Possession with Intent to Sell or Deliver Cocaine," said a release from the Department of Justice.