SPRINGFIELD—A man who was found guilty of trafficking cocaine and ended up on the run was caught by police in Georgia and arrived back to face charges on Monday.
Corey J. Mitchell-Edwards, 27, of Springfield, was originally arrested and arraigned in Westfield on charges of trafficking 200 or more grams of cocaine and possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute. The case was moved to Hampden Superior Court and Mitchell-Edwards was found guilty by a jury of both charges.
Corey Mitchell-Edwards mug shot
According to Hampden Superior Court records, Mitchell-Edwards was set to be sentenced on April 17, 2015 following the guilty verdict, but never showed. He was originally out on $5,000 bail. He subsequently had six warrants out for his arrest. Westfield Police said that he was found in Georgia by the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, in conjunction with Massachusetts State Police. He was apprehended in Georgia on June 16 while working at a call center.
Police originally arrested Mitchell-Edwards on Feb. 28, 2014, on Sackett Street in Westfield. Police records indicated that officers were surveilling the area after seeing suspicious activity from known drug users around a house on Sackett Street. The records also said that police allegedly talked to one of the known users after they saw him leave the house. Police stopped the individual and questioned him, resulting in him providing a full statement of what was happening inside.
Police executed a search warrant and reportedly found drugs and several items for drug distribution, including a digital scale with cocaine residue on it, a razor blade with residue, a plastic bag with 42 bags of heroin, eight marijuana plants and over 200 grams of cocaine in a paper bag.
Mitchell-Edwards was in the house at the time of the search, along with two other individuals. After an attempt to run past police, Mitchell-Edwards was stopped and arrested, along with another individual whose name cannot be provided.
Court records indicated that Mitchell-Edwards had a prior criminal record, dating back to 2005.
