A jury needed less than 30 minutes Tuesday to find a man guilty of Trafficking in Methamphetamine (more than 14 grams but less than 28 grams) after he was found with 5 baggies of meth in a beach bar, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Alphanso Frederick Hall Jr., 40, of Panama City Beach, was found guilty as charged of the trafficking offense and Unlawful Use of a Two-Way Communication Device. Circuit Court Judge Brantley Clark set sentencing for July 23 at 1 p.m. The trafficking charge is a First-Degree Felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a minimum-mandatory 3 years.

Prosecutor Frank Sullivan called 3 witnesses – two of them who were with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Division – to prove the defendant was in possession of 5 separate baggies of methamphetamine when he was arrested inside a beach bar. Each of the baggies held just over 3 grams of meth – often sold as an “8-ball.”

“The Bay County Sheriff’s Office did a good job of identifying this defendant as an alleged dealer of various drugs and using a confidential informant to set up a buy,” Sullivan said. “When the defendant was identified and detained inside the bar he was found to be carrying the 5 bags of meth.

“Methamphetamine continues destroy lives and we will continue to vigorously prosecute those traffickers arrested by our law enforcement partners to keep the community safe.”

Former Sheriff’s Office SID Cpl. Phillip Hill said an informant reached out to them in February 2025, about the defendant. A controlled drug buy was set up for Feb. 18, 2025, outside a beach bar. A controlled buy means everything was monitored: the confidential informant was searched, eye contact was maintained during the sale, and marked money was used for the purchase.

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Investigators watching the defendant entered the bar and ended up on the floor with him as they attempted to handcuff him. Bodycam showed investigators finding the baggies of meth and pulling them out of the defendant’s pocket.

Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office for its investigation that helped bring the case to a successful conclusion.

For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.