‘King of cocaine’ who offered holiday sales to customers granted presidential commutation

Macon’s best-known cocaine kingpin of the 1980s was granted a presidential commutation Tuesday, just days before President Barack Obama is set to leave office.

Jerry Jerome Anderson, 59, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 1991. Now, he’s set for release in 2020.

Dubbed by a federal prosecutor “the king of cocaine,” Anderson ruled a 30-member drug dealing organization that sold more than 208 kilograms of cocaine — nearly 460 pounds — in Macon between 1986 and 1989.

He was the first person sentenced to life without parole in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.

Testimony in the case showed Anderson’s organization sold an average $30,000 worth of cocaine a night, but totals could climb as high as $85,000.

The group had an annual payroll of about $500,000 for 25 to 30 member who also received Christmas bonuses.

Testifying during his trial, a former employee told federal jurors customers were offered “buy one, get one free” sales on cocaine and crack cocaine during Christmas holidays.

While in prison, Anderson stayed active in the lives of his children and grandchildren, said Ashley Deadwyler-Heuman, a lawyer representing him in a still-pending bid to have his sentence reduced.

“I’m glad he has a date certain for when he gets to come home,” Deadwyler-Heuman said Wednesday.

She said Anderson isn’t a “bad person.”

“He like many young men thought he had a lack of opportunity and got involved in the drug trade to try and get he and his family ahead,” Deadwyler-Heuman said.

Rehabilitated, he has the potential to “be an example of what not to do” and a “success story” by talking with at-risk youth about his past and deterring them from going down “the wrong path,” she said.

“I can imagine him getting involved with groups like that. It’s something he’s talked about,” Deadwyler-Heuman said.

This story was originally published January 18, 2017 at 11:24 AM with the headline "‘King of cocaine’ who offered holiday sales to customers granted presidential commutation."