A member of the Gadsden City Board of Education pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal drug distribution and tax crimes, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Northern Alabama.
Nathan Thomas Carter, 41, entered the plea before U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor in Birmingham. He was charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and three counts of filing false income tax returns.
Carter admitted in a plea deal with prosecutors that he conspired with others to distribute controlled substances, including hydrocodone and oxycodone, over a six-year period between 2015 and 2021, according to the release.
Carter worked as a pharmacist in charge at Gadsden’s Midtown Pharmacy from early 2018 to this year, according to the release, and records show that between 2018 and 2021, the company ordered up to 80,000 more doses of 30 mg oxycodone than it dispensed to customers.
According to the plea deal, Carter took opioid pills from the pharmacy and sold those pills to other drug distributors. He regularly took dispensing bottles from his pharmacy to his home and then repackaged the pills in plastic bags for resale.
He earned about $150,000 in illicit income per year, according to the release, which he did not include on his 2019 through 2021 tax returns.
Authorities found more than $110,000 in cash while executing a search warrant at Carter’s home, according to the release.
The maximum penalty for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances is 20 years in prison. The maximum penalty for filing false income tax returns is three years in prison for each count.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the IRS.
Carter represents District 2 on the school board. He won the seat in 2019, the first time board members were elected, with 70% of the vote and was unopposed in 2022.
This article originally appeared in The Gadsden Times: Gadsden school board member pleads guilty to federal taxes, drug charges
