Marcus Groover
Introduction
Marcus Groover, 43, of Savannah, Georgia, was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison — more than twelve and a half years — followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute psilocin, the psychedelic substance in so-called magic mushrooms . The sentence was imposed by US District Court Chief Judge R. Stan Baker and announced by Margaret E. “Meg” Heap, US Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia . There is no parole in the federal system .
Background Information
According to court documents and testimony, in April 2025 Savannah Police Department officers encountered Groover as he was asleep in his vehicle near a business located on Montgomery Street . As officers contacted him, they observed marijuana and drug-distribution items such as plastic bags and a digital scale .
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Guilty plea to drug trafficking; 151-month sentence with an unsecured pistol at the center of the case.
As officers attempted to wake Groover using a sternum rub, they observed a firearm beneath him on the driver’s seat of the vehicle . After he was detained, a subsequent search of the car revealed 11 grams of marijuana and .89 grams of dried mushrooms . Testing conducted later by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Division of Forensic Sciences Coastal Regional Lab confirmed the presence of psilocin, a Schedule I controlled substance . Groover admitted the offense by pleading guilty, and Chief Judge R. Stan Baker imposed a 151-month term followed by supervised release . US Attorney Heap’s announcement paired the drug evidence with the pistol found beneath him as the reason the combination endangered the community.
Public Reaction and Consequences
“Combining illegal drug distribution with an accessible firearm poses a severe and immediate danger to our community and the officers who protect it,” said US Attorney Heap . “Thanks to the vigilance of the Savannah Police Department, a dangerous combination of narcotics and an unsecured weapon was removed from our streets before anyone was harmed” . The case was investigated by the Savannah Police Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the GBI’s Division of Forensic Sciences, and prosecuted by Assistant US Attorneys Darron J. Hubbard and L. Alexander Hamner .
Current Status
Groover is serving his 151-month sentence, to be followed by three years of supervised release . The plea closed the case without a trial, and the sentence stands as imposed .
Impact on Their Career/Life
A sleeping man in a parked car became a federal drug-trafficking defendant once officers saw the bags, the scale, and the pistol under him; at 43, Groover’s sentence runs past his early fifties, and the psilocin conviction marks him as a convicted Schedule I drug distributor . The Justice Department publicized the case as an example of the danger it sees in mixing drug sales with unsecured weapons .
Sources
- “Savannah man sentenced after pleading guilty to trafficking psilocyn” — US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Georgia / justice.gov, November 2026: source