Convicted felon found guilty on multiple drug offenses

VISTA — A Superior Court jury convicted a 28-year-old man July 16 for possessing a variety of narcotics for sales.
Shawkat Nabeel Hamdi was found guilty of one count each of possessing cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine for sales as well as several counts relating to the possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon and a person in control of illegal drugs, all felonies.
A Sheriff’s Senior Volunteer Patrol officer alerted authorities to Hamdi’s vehicle Jan. 28, 2008, after smelling and seeing marijuana stashed in the car parked on Bluegrass Road in Vista, Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Oliphant said in a phone interview. A neighbor had complained about the vehicle sitting there for a while.
The car was parked approximately half a mile from Hamdi’s residence on Cielita Linda Drive, Oliphant said. Hamdi wasn’t named on the vehicle’s registration, which expired in 2007.
Inside the vehicle, authorities found the aforementioned drugs as well as 78 ounces of hallucinogenic mushrooms, a scale, a revolver containing his fingerprints, and his leather jacket with a note addressed to him, Oliphant told jurors during his closing argument. Authorities seized 26.6 grams of cocaine, 1,299 pills consisting of a methamphetamine concoction and 12 pounds of marijuana from Hamdi’s car, all of which were packaged for sales.
Oliphant referred to Hamdi’s vehicle as a “mobile pharmacy.”
Jurors also convicted Hamdi of a lesser include charge of possessing hallucinogenic mushrooms and found true three allegations attached to the possession for sales charges that he was armed with a firearm. However, the jury acquitted Hamdi on charges of possession of cocaine and child endangerment relating to the Feb. 21, 2008, police search of his residence on Cielita Linda Drive in which police found cocaine in Hamdi’s girlfriend’s vanity drawer.
Hamdi lived at the Vista residence with his girlfriend, Rachel Cosgrove, and her young daughter. Cosgrove, who was in attendance during closing arguments, pleaded guilty last year to one count of possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor, Oliphant said. Cosgrove, 28, received probation for the offense. Initially, she had also been charged with possession of cocaine and child endangerment relating to the cocaine found in her vanity drawer.
Hamdi’s criminal history includes two prison terms dating back to 2000, court records show. His first was for possession of a controlled substance and a firearm out of San Diego County and the second, which he received a strike for, was an assault out of Mono County in 2005.
When Hamdi is sentenced Aug. 13, he faces up to 20 years and eight months in prison, Oliphant said.