Newberry Man Charged with Trafficking in Fentanyl and ‘Bath Salts’

NEWBERRY ‒ Rakheem Tavares Hoyt, 29, of Newberry, was charged on Saturday, April 27, with possession of trafficking amounts of fentanyl and phenethylamines, commonly known as “bath salts.”

On March 3, an Alachua County Sheriff’s deputy located a truck in Newberry that had previously fled from him. The truck was reportedly partially blocking the road in the 25400 block of Northwest 8^th Avenue and was unoccupied. While waiting for backup, the deputy was approached by a woman who initially said she had been driving the truck and had fled because she was scared. She reportedly changed her story later to state that Hoyt was driving the truck and that one of the handguns belonged to her.

After more deputies arrived, a probable cause search of the truck was conducted based on the plain odor of marijuana. During the search, deputies reportedly found two handguns, an AK-47 rifle, 14 grams of fentanyl in the form of counterfeit oxycodone pills, 135 grams of marijuana and 100 grams of cannabis concentrate.

After a warrant was obtained to search a safe that was found in the truck, deputies found another 19 grams of fentanyl in the form of counterfeit oxycodone pills and 555 grams of substituted cathinones (bath salts).

Hoyt was originally charged via sworn complaint with possession of trafficking quantities of fentanyl, possession of trafficking quantities of phenethylamines, possession of cannabinoids with intent to sell, possession of marijuana with intent to sell and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Formal charges were filed on April 27 on the two drug trafficking charges. No action was taken on the others. Prosecutors recommended $1 million bond for each charge, but Judge James Nilon reduced that to $500,000 for each charge.

Hoyt has three felony convictions and 29 misdemeanor convictions. He was previously arrested on April 10 for selling drugs near two churches and $1 million has been added to his previous bail of $250,100. At the time of this writing, Hoyt remains in the Alachua County Jail.

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