Forty-two-year-old Arcadia resident Donald Carl Woods is headed to federal prison for 13 years and four months after admitting to meth and gun crimes that deputies say started with a bust near his home in 2025.
Woods pleaded guilty on January 27, 2026, to three federal counts: possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Deputies arrested him on April 28, 2025, near his Arcadia home and reported finding methamphetamine and a firearm on him. U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell handed down the sentence.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida, the April 28, 2025 arrest formed the basis for both the plea and the sentence. The office said Assistant United States Attorney Simon Eth prosecuted the case, laid out the specific counts Woods admitted to, and noted that deputies seized a firearm along with a quantity of methamphetamine during the arrest.
The DeSoto County Sheriff's Office touted the outcome in a Facebook post headlined "If you're gonna hide, don't hide in DeSoto." In the post, narcotics detectives and federal partners were credited with removing "dangerous drugs and an illegally possessed firearm" from the community. The agency identified Woods as an eight-time convicted felon and publicly thanked federal investigators, framing the case as a win for cooperative enforcement in and around Arcadia.
Federal partners and Operation Take Back America
Per the U.S. Attorney's Office, the investigation pulled in a full slate of federal agencies. The FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives worked alongside DeSoto County narcotics detectives.
The federal release notes the case was brought under Operation Take Back America, a nationwide effort that uses federal resources to target cartels and other transnational criminal organizations.
What the sheriff's office says
In its writeup of the case, the Sheriff's Office cast the arrest and sentence as proof that local narcotics detectives, backed by federal partners, can knock illegal guns and meth out of circulation. The post emphasized that Woods is a repeat offender and framed holding him accountable as part of ongoing efforts to keep DeSoto County streets safer.
Legal context
Federal law makes it a crime for people with prior felony convictions to possess firearms under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), a prohibition described by the Legal Information Institute. A separate statute, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), imposes mandatory consecutive penalties for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. The U.S. Sentencing Commission's quick facts describe those counts as carrying particularly steep minimum sentences.
Court papers filed in the Middle District of Florida confirm Woods's guilty plea, the elements of the offenses, and that his punishment will be served in federal custody. Local officials say the case illustrates how a small county operation can plug into federal task forces to push back against illegal drugs and guns in Arcadia and the wider DeSoto County community.
