Birmingham Heroin Supplier Sentenced To 365 Months Publisher: U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Alabama Date: 21 March 2025 Subjects: American Government , Crime Topic:

Court documents showed that Harding was a heroin supplier in Birmingham who was introduced to a conspirator from Baldwin County, Alabama, by another conspirator in Birmingham.  As a result of the introduction, ounces of heroin were transported from Birmingham to Daphne, Alabama, where they were distributed to local heroin dealers.  The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) obtained a court-authorized wiretap on two of the local conspirators and identified Harding as the primary supplier for heroin. One of the drug shipments being discussed by the conspirators in the monitored phone calls was intercepted on I-65 in Baldwin County by Baldwin County sheriff’s deputies.  The deputies seized approximately 205 grams of heroin hidden in the trunk of a rental car.  The driver of the car, identified as Quantis Clark, was arrested and indicted separately.  Clark pled guilty in federal court to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances during June of 2019.  He was sentenced on August 30, 2022, to five years imprisonment.

When FBI agents involved in the Baldwin County investigation were preparing to arrest Harding in Birmingham, they discovered that Homeland Security agents and Alabama Law Enforcement agents were also investigating Harding on drug charges.  In September of 2019, a search warrant was executed on Harding’s Birmingham residence and agents seized eight firearms, two kilograms of heroin, and additional amounts of cocaine and crack cocaine.  In October of 2019, Harding was arrested on the indictment returned in the Southern District of Alabama.

Court documents also showed that Harding occupied a leadership role in the drug conspiracy.  Court documents further showed that Harding had a long and significant criminal history with prior felony convictions spanning four decades.  United States District Court Judge Terry F. Moorer imposed the 365-month sentence at the sentencing hearing on March 19.  The judge ordered that the prison sentence will be followed by a four-year term of supervised release.  Harding will undergo testing and treatment for drug abuse. The judge also imposed a special condition that the probation office may search Harding’s person or property upon a showing of reasonable suspicion that he is in violation of any of the conditions of his supervision.  No fine was imposed but the judge ordered that Harding pay $100 in special mandatory assessments.

The FBI, the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, the Baldwin County Drug Task Force, the Foley Police Department, the Daphne Police Department, Gulf Shores Police Department and the Bay Minette Police Department, and the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office all participated in the  investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Gloria Bedwell prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

The investigation was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF)  operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organization 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.     

Updated March 21, 2025