Fisherman facing life in prison after finding cocaine at sea

PANAMA CITY — The question is often light-heartedly posited among friends in coastal towns of what one would do if he were to discover a bail of washed-up narcotics. Local fisherman Thomas Zachary Breeding, 32, chose to distribute for sale the 20 kilograms of cocaine he found — and he advises you not do the same.

“This changed my life and way of thinking and also made me aware of some of the dangers that can be found off shore in the Gulf,” Breeding wrote recently in a letter to The News Herald from the Washington County Jail, where he is being held to await his sentence for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. “I would like to let the public know the dangers and what not to do if this situation comes about.”

Breeding was one of five individuals arrested in summer 2016 on charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. The group was indicted by a federal grand jury in September after Breeding found 20 kilograms of cocaine — the equivalent of about 45 pounds — while out at sea and set up a distribution network with the other people. All five since have pleaded guilty to the charges and are awaiting their sentencings.

Breeding has been convicted of several other drug and gun offenses in the past. He and his co-defendants are scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 16. Breeding, who also is charged as a felon unlawfully transporting a firearm in connection with the incident, could be sentenced to life in prison and a fine of up to $4.25 million, court records stated.

In his letter from the jail, Breeding said he was about 80 kilometers out at sea south of Panama City when he discovered a package he thought would change his life for the better but ultimately could condemn him to spend the rest of his days behind bars.

“I was working as a long line boat captain out of Panama City when I found a package containing 20 kilos of cocaine,” he wrote. “I do not know where the drugs came from and haven’t ever been involved in the drug trade before. I was just a hard-working, young commercial fisherman.”

According to his guilty plea, Breeding found the cocaine some time in January 2016. He “fronted” portions of the cocaine until about June 2016 to co-defendants Benjamin Bailey McGraw, Jeremy Patrick Hubbard, Richard Kenneth Helms Jr. and Jessica Renee Ashbaker, who then sold the narcotic and reimbursed Breeding the money owed.

It's unclear what led authorities to Breeding. When he was arrested, Breeding, a convicted felon, was driving in Walton County with a firearm in his vehicle.