Marietta Heroin Trafficker Sentenced to 40 Years

MARIETTA, GA — A convicted Marietta heroin trafficker has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Mark Sheldon Fairchild, 26, was convicted on trafficking heroin, and possession of both cocaine and marijuana with intent to distribute. He was sentenced on Monday.

Acting on a tip, police set up surveillance in a high-crime area near Fairchild’s residence on Meadowbrook Drive. On Oct. 2, 2014, Fairchild was stopped for a traffic violation and when officers approached his car, he was seen eating marijuana. Fairchild told police he had more drugs at his home and not to put any charges on his family.

Officers went to his home, where Fairchild’s mother allowed officers to enter and pointed out his room, from which officers could smell marijuana. His mother refused to allow officers to enter Fairchild’s room, at which point they froze the scene and obtained a warrant to search Fairchild’s bedroom for drugs.

In the closet of that bedroom, officers found 41 grams of heroin, nine grams of cocaine and more than four ounces of marijuana; fish food – which is a specific cutting agent for heroin; a grinder; a press; hundreds of baggies; a scale; $450 cash; and the Defendant’s Social Security card, birth certificate, debit card, and recent mail addressed to him at that home.

Agents working the case testified this was one of the largest heroin seizures they had ever made, and GBI crime lab experts testified that it was in the top 10 percent of heroin cases they have worked.

Fairchild will spend 13 years to serve in prison and the balance on probation. Fairchild has two prior drug convictions.

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