—
A drug dealer let off the hook by President Joe Biden was arrested with a large stash of cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl.
Walter Lee Muhammad, granted clemency in the final months of the Biden presidency, faces drug trafficking charges after police say he was arrested with 25 kilograms of cocaine, seven kilograms of heroin, and four kilograms of fentanyl. Biden cut the Atlanta-based Muhammad’s 10-year prison sentence six years short in December 2024 when he issued clemency to over a thousand drug offenders.
“Muhammad is a serial drug trafficker who — despite receiving the extraordinary gift of presidential clemency — continued to deal lethal fentanyl and other dangerous drugs,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg. “Thanks to our law enforcement partners, the community is safer with this repeat offender off the street and back behind bars.”
Muhammad now faces federal and state drug trafficking charges after a lengthy investigation.
DEA agent Michael DeWald said in the complaint against Muhammad that he and other suspected drug traffickers had been under investigation since July 2025. Officials suspect that Muhammad had several Atlanta properties that he used to store and distribute the drugs.
On August 5, 2026, DEA agents observed multiple bags being shuffled out of a property used by Muhammad. Those bags were transferred to a BMW which left late that evening for North Carolina. The BMW was stopped by the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office, which deployed dogs that detected drugs, according to investigators.
“The Adidas bag contained MUHAMMAD’s clothing that was wrapped around four kilograms of fentanyl. Deputies found 25 kilograms of cocaine in the cardboard box. Guilford County Sheriff deputies field-tested the seized substances, and both tested positive for cocaine and fentanyl, respectively,” DeWald wrote in the complaint.
Seized drugs: DOJ.
The next day, agents searched Muhammad’s property and found more heroin and fentanyl, along with three firearms, including a stolen Glock handgun.
Muhammed: Guilford County Sheriff; Guns: DOJ.
“Despite receiving a second chance, this defendant returned to trafficking fentanyl and putting lives at risk,” said DEA special agent Jae Chung. “The seizure of this significant amount of fentanyl is a reminder that we will continue to hold those who profit from this deadly poison accountable.”
Prior to Biden’s clemency, Muhammad had been convicted for drug trafficking three other times. In August 1999, he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Just over ten years later, in November 2010, he was convicted of conspiring to distribute marijuana, and in February 2020 he was sentenced for intending to traffic fentanyl.
Biden issued a wave of pardons to drug dealers in his final months in office, claiming he was taking steps to give mercy to people given “disproportionately long sentences.” On January 17, 2025, he commuted the sentences of 2,500 drug offenders, in addition to the nearly 1,500 he granted clemency to in December 2024.
“With this action, I have now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president in U.S. history,” Biden boasted at the time.
