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Beloit Man Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for Drug Crimes

According to a press release from the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, yesterday 40 year old Beloit resident Eshawn M. Reed pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine years in federal prison for distributing crack cocaine and possessing a firearm to assist with a drug trafficking crime. This nine year prison term will be followed by five years of supervised release.


Janesville Police Department officers purchased crack cocaine from Reed in Janesville on April 6, July 19, and August 5 of 2021 by using a confidential informant.


On August 10 of 2021, law enforcement officers had planned to arrest Reed and search a residence he had in Janesville. The same day, Beloit Police Department officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle Reed was driving. However, Reed didn’t pull over and fled in his vehicle at a high rate of speed. Officers found his car abandoned later, and Reed was found walking away from the vehicle. He was then taken into custody, and officers found a loaded Ruger 57 handgun, an additional loaded magazine, a bag containing 25 grams of crack cocaine sitting on top of a stack of $4,380 in cash, an additional $15,790 in cash, and 1,063 grams of marijuana. Additionally, Reed’s DNA was found on the firearm.


Officers were also able to search his Janesville residence, and found drug trafficking paraphernalia, including a vacuum-sealing machine, unused vacuum bags, a 100-gram weight, measuring cups, strainers, and packaging materials. The next day, officers were alerted to a bag found in a ditch along Reed’s suspected flight path from law enforcement the day prior. Inside the bag, officers found 671 grams of powder cocaine and 62 grams of crack cocaine. Reed’s DNA was found on the bag of powder cocaine.


Reed was interviewed by officers, and admitted to possessing the guns, drugs, and cash in the vehicle and admitted that the crack cocaine found in the car was prepackaged for sale so he would be ready when someone called.


Reed was prohibited from legally possessing a firearm based on multiple prior felony convictions. During the time of the controlled buys and arrest, he was on state supervision for three felony cases – one involving second degree recklessly endangering safety with use of a dangerous weapon, a second case involving maintaining a drug trafficking place, and a third case involving possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute. His state supervision has since been revoked and he is currently serving a total sentence of five years in state prison with an anticipated release date of November 7, 2026. Judge Peterson ordered Reed’s four-year federal sentence on the cocaine distribution charge to run concurrently with the remainder of Reed’s state prison sentence and ordered Reed’s five-year federal sentence on the firearm charge to run consecutively to the cocaine distribution charge as well as Reed’s state prison sentences.


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