A 42-year-old convicted felon known as a real estate investor is facing multiple felony drug and gun charges.
Ervin Coleman was the target of a joint investigation by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and a federal drug task force spearheaded by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Police and DEA agents had been staking out the C&C Properties and Investments building on Lem Turner as part of an ongoing drug investigation.
According to investigators, the building housed illegal narcotics. Investigators said they watched Coleman conduct a drug transaction with 35-year-old Bruce Black sitting in a car.
That’s when Coleman and Black were both arrested.
Police said when they searched the vehicle, they found a sandwich bag filled with powder cocaine. Federal agents executed a search warrant on the building, they reportedly found a large amount of cocaine in a gallon-size zip lock bag, a cocaine pill press device, and Benzocaine – which is a cutting agent used as an additive to cocaine.
They said they also found a large sum of cash along with various paraphernalia typically associated with illegal drug manufacturing and distribution with the addition of multiple firearms, including two loaded AK-47 rifles.
Coleman is a convicted felon who was on probation at the time of the drug bust. In addition to multiple drug charges, he was also charged with three counts of illegal gun possession and seven counts of violating his probation.
Coleman was previously convicted on two counts of drug trafficking and sentenced to six years in prison in 2003. He was arrested on a drug trafficking charge in 2009 but the charge was dropped. He was also arrested in 2020 on a cocaine possession charge, which was also dropped.
According to the Duval County property appraisers, Coleman owns multiple properties around Jacksonville.
Coleman lists himself as the owner of C&C Real Estate, but News4JAX couldn’t confirm that or find a real estate license in his name.
Black was charged with trafficking cocaine and faces grand theft and illegal weapon possession charges in an unrelated case. According to police, Black is a person of interest to the JSO Gang Unit.