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A man was sentenced last month to seven years in federal prison for having over two pounds of cocaine at his home in Pleasanton as well as identity theft materials, according to court documents.
The U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force arrested 41-year-old Chanta Duane Hopkins, who had a federal warrant for supervised release violation, at his home in Pleasanton on Oct. 24, 2023. Hopkins initially had a warrant out for his arrest in December 2021 for allegedly violating conditions of a supervised release from the federal court.
According to court documents, Hopkins had a history of similar narcotic and identity theft related charges in the past and was even sentenced to seven years in federal prison for those previous charges. But in 2021, he got a compassionate release from prison due to the COVID-19 pandemic, court documents show.
He had served four years in prison up until that point.
Hopkins was supposed to serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement for two years with a full search condition, but according to his sentencing memorandum, Hopkins absconded from supervision.
Court documents show that law enforcement attempted to contact Hopkins multiple times in 2021 and 2022 for allegations of grand theft and evading police officers, but it wasn’t until he was arrested last October that federal agents found all the evidence that led up to his most recent sentencing.
According to his sentencing memorandum, agents found 1.16 kilograms of cocaine that Hopkins later admitted as part of his plea agreement he had with the intent to distribute. He also admitted to possessing, without permission, more than five identification documents that belonged to other people.
During the search of his home, agents discovered other identity theft materials such as credit card scanners, a credit card printer, several payment cards and social security cards that weren’t his, among many other items, according to court records.
Court documents also show that agents found at least 200 additional grams of cocaine, 264 grams of methamphetamine, 2.3 grams of fentanyl and two unregistered guns.
“He possessed with the intent to distribute a significant amount of narcotics, committed large-scale identity theft, and agents found two firearms when searching his home, including one behind the bed in which he appeared to be sleeping,” according to court documents. “Most egregious, (Hopkins) engaged in this activity after being granted compassionate release, absconding from supervision, and engaging in additional criminal activity while on the lam.”
While prosecutors pointed out in Hopkins sentencing memorandum that the sentencing was the same amount of time he was sentenced for his past charges — the main question was if he should have received more time given he was a repeat offender — they noted that he had only served four years out of the seven, which is why they believed seven years for this recent trial was sufficient.
They also took into account that Hopkins pleaded guilty before he was even charged for these most recent crimes which according to the court document, demonstrates “an early acceptance of responsibility and allowing the government to conserve resources.”
