Federal Drug Sentence: Mobile Man Gets 15 Years After Chase, Meth and Gun Tossed Near School

MOBILE, Ala. — A Mobile man who led sheriff’s deputies on a high-speed chase in 2025 and, according to court records, tossed nearly 300 grams of methamphetamine and a loaded handgun from his car along the way has received a federal drug sentence of 15 years in prison.

Gregory Deon Hickenbottom, 40, was sentenced Thursday, Oct. 8, in federal court for trafficking methamphetamine and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

A Speeding Stop That Turned Into a Chase

The case began with a routine traffic stop on July 8, 2025, court documents show. A Mobile County Sheriff’s Office deputy pulled Hickenbottom over for speeding. While talking with him, the deputy saw an open container of liquor in the car and smelled marijuana.

The deputy and a backup unit walked up to the driver’s side door to ask Hickenbottom to step out of the car. Instead, he drove away, and deputies gave chase.

During the pursuit, a deputy saw a large, clear plastic bag thrown from the car’s passenger-side window. Hickenbottom eventually shook off the deputies by driving recklessly through a neighborhood, at times at speeds of more than 90 miles per hour, according to court documents.

Meth in a Ditch, a Gun Near a School

Deputies later went back and found the bag in a ditch close to where they had seen it thrown. Inside were several one-ounce bags of methamphetamine packaged and ready to be sold.

Deputies also found a loaded 9 mm handgun lying across the street from an elementary school. Officers did not see Hickenbottom throw the gun because he had just made a high-speed turn and was briefly out of view. But the gun was found along the route he had driven, and the drugs were found nearby, court documents state.

Lab testing showed the drugs were 294 grams of methamphetamine that was 99% pure. That is a little more than 10 ounces, roughly two-thirds of a pound.

Abandoned Mercedes, a Getaway Ride and a Floorboard Arrest

After losing the deputies, Hickenbottom left the car he had been driving, a Mercedes sedan. Deputies found it abandoned at the Scenic Motel on Moffett Road.

While deputies were investigating at the motel, someone reported seeing Hickenbottom get into a Ford Escape driven by a woman. Deputies located that vehicle near the area where the drugs and gun had been recovered.

The woman who had picked him up told officers that Hickenbottom admitted throwing the drugs and the gun out of the window and had asked her to drive him back to get them, according to court documents. Officers found Hickenbottom hiding in the floorboard behind the front seats.

When he was arrested, he had a small amount of cocaine and digital scales of the kind used to weigh drugs for sale. Officers also came across a man walking in the area who told them Hickenbottom had called him and asked him to search the ditch for the drugs and the gun.

Key Facts in the Case

• Defendant: Gregory Deon Hickenbottom, 40, of Mobile
• Sentence: 15 years in federal prison, imposed Oct. 8, 2026
• Offenses: Trafficking methamphetamine; possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime
• Arrest date: July 8, 2025, after a traffic stop and pursuit
• Drugs recovered: 294 grams of 99% pure methamphetamine in one-ounce bags, plus a small amount of cocaine
• Weapon recovered: Loaded 9 mm handgun
• Arresting agency: Mobile County Sheriff’s Office

Why the Gun Charge Matters

The firearm count in the case carries heavy weight in federal court. Under federal law, possessing a gun in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime carries a mandatory minimum of five years in prison. That time cannot run at the same time as the drug sentence; it must be served on top of, or consecutively to, the punishment for the underlying drug offense.

Federal drug-trafficking penalties also climb with the amount of drugs involved, and methamphetamine cases are measured both by total weight and by purity. Highly pure methamphetamine, often called “ice,” is treated more harshly under federal sentencing rules than lower-purity mixtures of the same weight.

The federal system has no parole. People sentenced in federal court generally serve most of their prison terms, with limited credit available for good behavior. Federal sentences for drug crimes typically also include a period of supervised release after prison, during which a probation officer monitors the person and violations can lead to more prison time. Details of any supervised release term in Hickenbottom’s case were not included in the information released about his sentence.

A Pattern of Highly Pure Meth in Local Cases

The sentence is the second 15-year federal methamphetamine-and-gun sentence for a south Alabama man announced in the same week. On Oct. 8, federal prosecutors also announced that Christopher Charles Rogers, 51, of Foley, was sentenced to 15 years after Baldwin County deputies found 99.4% pure methamphetamine in his truck on the Foley Beach Express and loaded guns at his trailer.

Both cases fit a trend law enforcement agencies have described for years: most of the methamphetamine reaching the region is no longer cooked in small home labs but produced in bulk by large trafficking organizations, and the drug sold on the street is often extremely pure and relatively cheap. Purity levels of 99% have shown up repeatedly in federal cases in southwest Alabama.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama, based in Mobile, prosecutes federal crimes in Mobile, Baldwin and other southwest Alabama counties. Cases that begin with local arrests, such as traffic stops by sheriff’s deputies, are often adopted for federal prosecution when they involve significant drug quantities or guns, because federal penalties can be stiffer than those available in state court.

Moffett Road and the Pursuit Question

Moffett Road, where the abandoned Mercedes was found, is one of west Mobile’s main corridors, running from the city toward Semmes and the Mississippi line. The chase described in court records ran through a residential neighborhood at speeds that at times topped 90 miles per hour and ended with a loaded gun on the ground across the street from an elementary school.

Prosecutors did not say whether anyone was hurt during the pursuit, and the information released about the case does not mention any injuries or crashes.

Reporting Drug Activity and Getting Help

Residents who suspect drug dealing in their neighborhoods can contact the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office or their local police department. Anonymous tips can also be submitted through Mobile Area Crime Stoppers at 251-208-7000.

People struggling with methamphetamine or other substance use can reach the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s free, confidential National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.