Columbia drug dealer ‘Mandoo’ gets lengthy prison sentence

“Mandoo” is going to prison for a long time.

That’s because the Columbia man nicknamed “Mandoo” received a lengthy prison sentence in federal court Monday.

Emanuel Alexander Cheeseboro, aka “Mandoo” was sentenced on six counts of possession with the intent to distribute a quantity of crack cocaine, two counts of felon in possession of a firearm, two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and one of possession of a quantity of marijuana.

Cheeseboro was sentenced to 622 months (51.8 years) incarceration, followed by 6 years of supervised release, according to U.S. Attorney Beth Drake. Cheeseboro was also fined $5,000 and has to pay an $1,100 special assessment.

The 35-year-old Cheeseboro was convicted in June 2017 after a three-day trial. He could have been sentenced to life in prison.

During an investigation of drug dealing in the Martin Luther King Park area of Columbia, law enforcement made multiple undercover purchases of crack cocaine from Cheeseboro in the spring of 2014, Drake’s office said. These purchases took place at different houses in the MLK Park area.

In each case, Cheeseboro was captured on video selling the undercover police officer crack cocaine. During one purchase, Cheeseboro bragged about and displayed a 9mm Taurus firearm with a laser that he kept during nighttime drug purchases.

A search of a house tied to Cheeseboro turned up crack cocaine, marijuana and scales, Drake said.

Law enforcement was also able to locate a firearm sometime after the search warrant that they were able to link to Cheeseboro, a convicted felon.

Cheeseboro was arrested on June 8, 2016, sitting in a car parked at a house called “the Hole.” The driver of the car told police that Cheeseboro asked her to hide crack cocaine on her person. Police also found a pistol under the car seat and marijuana in the car’s trunk.

Cheeseboro was arrested along with more than 30 other people during the local-state-federal investigation called Operation Green Light. The investigation was launched after citizen complaints about illegal activities in and around the South Columbia park.

This story was originally published March 5, 2018 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Columbia drug dealer ‘Mandoo’ gets lengthy prison sentence."