Jacksonville Drug Ring Leader Sentenced for I-95 Shooting

Nathaniel Hatcher III, 30, of Jacksonville, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Harvey Schlesinger for the Middle District of Florida to 35 years in prison for conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute marijuana, conspiracy to commit money laundering, committing a drive-by shooting in furtherance of a major drug offense, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. The court also entered a $2.2 million order for forfeiture, the proceeds of the drug trafficking conspiracy. Hatcher pleaded guilty in September 2025.

“Hatcher and his drug crew planned and executed a brazen drive-by shooting in broad daylight on I-95, putting dozens of law-abiding Americans in danger of losing their lives,” said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Now, he will spend decades in federal prison where he can no longer terrorize the Jacksonville community thanks to the combined efforts of federal, state, and local law enforcement partners who investigated and prosecuted this case.”

“The tenacious work by our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners in this case ensured that the members of this drug trafficking organization were brought to justice,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida. “We will continue to leverage our resources, whenever necessary, to protect our communities from violence and harm.”

“This case demonstrates the unwavering commitment of HSI to protect our communities from the dangers posed by drug trafficking and violent crime,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Tim Hemker of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Jacksonville. “The dismantlement of this violent drug trafficking organization and the sentencing of these defendants will have a lasting impact on the safety of our community.”

“The judge delivered a punishment that matches the danger this defendant posed to communities,” said Special Agent in Charge Ron Loecker of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS CI) Florida Field Office. “The message is simple: profit from poison, and you pay for it. IRS CI and our partners will follow the money across jurisdictions to shut down traffickers and every coconspirator who launders their profits.”

According to court documents, Hatcher operated and led a Jacksonville-based drug trafficking organization (DTO). For eight years, Hatcher’s DTO trafficked bulk amounts of marijuana from Northern California to Jacksonville by smuggling the drug on commercial airlines, shipping it through the U.S. mail system, and transporting it by vehicle across state lines. Once the marijuana arrived in Jacksonville, Hatcher and other DTO members transported the marijuana to various short-term rental homes throughout Jacksonville. Hatcher and members of the DTO rented these homes to store, package, and distribute marijuana. Hatcher and other members of the DTO carried and possessed firearms at these residences to protect themselves, their drugs, and their drug proceeds during drug sales.

In addition to trafficking, transporting, smuggling, and selling marijuana, Hatcher was also responsible for carrying out violence on behalf of the DTO. Hatcher used the assistance of former corrections officer Desmond Maxwell to unlawfully buy firearms on behalf of Hatcher and members of the DTO.

Hatcher, with the assistance of Yaquasia Delcarmen, would collect drug proceeds from the DTO’s members. Hatcher and Delcarmen would then launder the proceeds back into bank accounts controlled by Hatcher. During the conspiracy, Hatcher and others used sham business accounts that were formed for the purpose of laundering illicit proceeds. Hatcher and Delcarmen laundered over $2 million and spent the drug proceeds on lavish lifestyle items.

On Sept. 18, 2023, Hatcher, James Toney, and other DTO members arranged a bulk marijuana transaction with subjects whom they had met that evening in Jacksonville. The drug transaction failed; the other subjects never provided the promised marijuana, and instead, stole approximately $45,000 in cash from Hatcher and Toney. After the failed drug transaction, Hatcher contacted a former police officer, who illegally accessed law enforcement databases to provide Hatcher with the names and home addresses of the subjects who stole the money. For nearly a month, Hatcher and other DTO members tracked, surveilled, and cyber-stalked the other subjects and their family members. In text messages, Hatcher and others discussed and plotted retaliation for the robbery, including committing acts of violence.

On Oct. 15, 2023, Briyhon Johnson and Toney traveled to the Jacksonville International Airport to break into a rental car lot. Johnson and Toney stole two cars from the rental car lot with the intention of using one of the stolen cars in the planned retaliation. The theft had been coordinated by Johnson and Toney through text messages.

On Oct.17, 2023, Toney traveled to the Duval County courthouse in Jacksonville for a scheduled court date in an unrelated pending criminal matter. Toney and other DTO members knew from reading the public court docket that one of the subjects from the September 18 drug deal also had court that day at the Duval County courthouse for a separate criminal matter. After court concluded, Hatcher and other DTO members surveilled this subject as he exited the Duval County courthouse, accompanied by a female subject, and entered his Mercedes sedan.

Toney traveled to meet with Johnson, who provided Toney with a firearm. Johnson, Toney, Hatcher, and Tavarius Blue were operating multiple vehicles, including a stolen red Dodge Charger sedan and a gray Audi SUV, and followed the Mercedes sedan from downtown Jacksonville to I-95, traveling southbound toward St. Johns County. Darion Jerido was driving a separate sedan, acting as the lookout for the others and to keep pace with the Mercedes sedan. Johnson was driving the red Dodge Charger, with Toney traveling in the passenger seat. Blue was driving the gray Audi SUV, with Hatcher traveling in passenger seat. At approximately 11:20 a.m., during the pursuit along I-95 South, the red Dodge Charger and the gray Audi SUV boxed the Mercedes sedan into the left lane of traffic. Then, Toney from the Dodge Charger and Hatcher from the Audi SUV discharged dozens of rounds of 7.62 caliber ammunition at the Mercedes sedan. According to witness interviews, Johnson and Toney were both wearing masks. Following the shooting, the red Dodge Charger and the Audi SUV fled the scene.

Officers with the St. Johns County Sheriffs’ Office and emergency medical personnel arrived on scene within minutes. The driver of the Mercedes sedan, who was the male subject from the courthouse, sustained one gunshot wound but survived and was air-lifted to a trauma unit. The front passenger of the Mercedes, the female subject from the courthouse, did not sustain any gunshot wounds but did suffer injuries from broken glass. Emergency personnel also transported her to a nearby hospital. The Mercedes sedan sustained gunshots to the passenger side, the rear, the front and hood, the front windshield, the interior, and the engine block. On scene, deputies recovered approximately 25 spent 7.62 caliber shell casings. According to ballistics analysis, two different firearms were used during the shooting.

Following Hatcher’s arrest in February 2024, Delcarmen continued the drug trafficking activities on Hatcher’s behalf and at Hatcher’s direction. Hatcher tampered with multiple witnesses and co-conspirators, directing them to flee from, or lie to, law enforcement. Hatcher also directed co-conspirators to destroy evidence.

HSI, IRS Criminal Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Highway Patrol are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elisibeth Adams for the Middle District of Florida is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.