MS Coast councilman’s plea date set in drug conspiracy case. What happens to his seat?

Biloxi councilman Robert Deming is set to plead guilty on April 29 to a federal conspiracy charge in connection with a drug raid last year at his CBD and kratom stores called the Candy Shop, LLC.

However, Deming’s attorney, W. Fred “Dub” Hornsby, said Friday that the plea date will likely be moved up or pushed to a later date because the attorney won’t be available then.

A new date had not yet been set Friday morning.

It’s unclear when Deming will step down from his Ward 4 council seat in Biloxi, but once he is convicted of the of the federal offense, he is longer eligible to hold office. He is currently in his third term in office.

Once he steps down, the secretary of state’s office said a special election would be held 30 to 45 days after the Biloxi council declares the seat vacant.

Whoever is elected will serve the remainder of his term, which will be around a year, before the next election is held for another four-year term.

No one would be appointed to the Ward 4 seat before the special election is held, the secretary of state’s office said.

A previous challenger in races for the Ward 4 race, former Biloxi police assistant chief, Rodney McGilvary, has already expressed his intent to run for the Ward 4 seat.

Meanwhile, Deming is facing up to 20 years in prison and up to $1 million in fines once he pleads guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

Deming entered into a plea agreement with federal prosecutors before he announced his intention to enter a guilty plea. In exchange for the plea, federal prosecutors have agreed to dismiss an additional drug conspiracy charge and a second charge of destruction, alteration or falsification of records in a federal investigation

Hornsby said Deming will wait until after he pleads guilty to the federal offense to make any comment on his decision.

Deming has been out of jail under house arrest since his indictment in September 2023.

Deming has already reached an agreement with prosecutors in his subsequent civil forfeiture case involving the seizure of over $1.8 million in cash found in Deming’s home, office and truck.

Authorities seized over $89,000 more in cash from Deming’s Mississippi and North Carolina stores.

Under the proposed agreement, Deming is expected to lose his law license and cash seized during the raids, but will be allowed to keep his Biloxi home and two vehicles, Hornsby said.

The Sun Herald learned in early April of the plea negotiations after U.S. Attorney Todd Gee informed the Poplarville attorney appointed conservator over Deming’s forfeiture case to end her work and submit her billable hours and expenses.

Gee told the court that the services of the court-appointed conservator, Colette A. Oldmixon, were no longer needed because prosecutors had resolved both the civil and criminal matters.

Deming’s arrest came eight months after agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration in January 2023 raided the Candy Shops stores in Mississippi and North Carolina and seized cash from Deming’s home, office and vehicles.

The stores have remained open since the January 2023 raids.

During the raids, DEA agents seized various logs, receipts and financial records from the Candy Shop stores and Deming’s law office, along with alleged synthetic cannabinoids and other suspected additives.

DEA agents started a criminal investigation into The Candy Shop and its owners, identified as Deming and Damion Fletcher, and employees, suppliers and alleged co-conspirators in late 2021, DEA Agent Alexander Smith said.

The investigation began after some customers reported that someone got sick after ingesting a product there.

In addition, authorities had noticed that Deming had made several high-end purchases, such as paying $500,000 in cash for his Biloxi home and had spent more money on fancy cars. In addition, DEA agents noticed that the Candy shop stores made a lot more money than similar stores in Mississippi and North Carolina.

About two weeks after the raid, DEA Agent Alexander Smith said, Deming closed his business and personal accounts at Cadence Bank, formally known as Bancorp South, withdrawing over $280,000.

Five days later, the agent said, Deming opened new accounts at Wells Fargo and deposited around the same amount of cash into those accounts and an existing account at WoodForest National Bank.

DEA Agent Smith analyzed Deming’s financial analysis over three years and said he believes “the funds withdrawn from Deming’s ... multiple accounts were co-mingled with proceeds derived from the sale of illicit substances.”

In other words, Smith said, the financial review showed Deming “consistently and repeatedly co-mingled funds between accounts for The Candy Shop and his personal law and law firm accounts.”

The conservator also found various instances in which Deming allegedly co-mingled funds in accounts at the Candy Shop stores, his personal law firm and his law firm trust account.

A “cooperating witness” in the criminal investigation told agents early on that Deming was concerned about his assets after the Jan. 26, 2023, raid.

Deming’s decision to enter a guilty plea comes less than a week after federal prosecutors dismissed a federal charge against a second defendant in the case, Celeste “CJ” Little.

Federal agents arrested Little in April on a federal criminal complaint charging the employee with attempt and conspiracy to alter, destroy, and cover up a tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence an investigation.

According to prosecutors, Little was an employee at the Candy Shop stores and called employees at other stores during the simultaneous drug raids to tell them to dispose of a synthetic additive they were using in the products.

The federal government initially filed a forfeiture request to seize Deming’s home in Biloxi and his CBD and kratom stores, arguing the cash and other property are subject to forfeiture because they are derived from an alleged drug trafficking network involved in money laundering and racketeering through the businesses.

Deming will likely be able to continue running the Candy Shop stores after his guilty plea as long he is no longer selling items with a Schedule 1 additive in the products, his attorney said.

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