A Highlands County man, dubbed by the streets as Nick Drop, will be spending the next decade behind bars for slinging crack cocaine. On April 25, Nichiren Shoshu Smith was handed a 121-month prison sentence followed by a heavy tail of four years under the government's watchful eye, according to United States Attorney's Office press release.

This 48-year-old Sebring local got cracked down by the long arm of the law after a series of drug deals in March and May last year, where he sold cocaine base or crack. On top of that, when the cops kicked down his door on May 19, 2023, they hit the jackpot, finding over a kilogram of cocaine, about 115.5 grams of cocaine base, and a stash of cash amounting to more than $7,000. This isn’t Smith's first rodeo either, he’s been down this road before with a prior conviction for pushing the same weight in the South.

The gavel came down in Miami's federal court where U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon laid down the law. The DEA’s Miami Field Division and the local Highlands County Sheriff’s Office take the pat on the back for putting together the operation that netted Smith. And when it comes to court details, you can dive into it all on the United States Attorney's Office website or play around with the PACER system, if you got the case number—23-cr-14038—handy.

The announcement came from the heavy hitters—U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe, DEA honcho Deanne L. Reuter, and Highlands County’s own Sheriff Paul Blackman. Smack dab in the center of the nitty-gritty legal action was Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Porter, the man calling the shots in the courtroom. Smith’s past decisions have led him right into a decade-long timeout, a stiff reminder that the game stays the same but the players always change.