Crack Peddler ‘Cat Man’ Given 20-Year Prison Sentence

A California drug dealer who called himself “Cat Man” and sold crack in downtown Spokane is heading to prison for 20 years.

Antoine Mercadel, 34, was sentenced to federal prison Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge Frem Nielsen.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Ohms urged the judge to declare Mercadel a “career offender” and sentence him to 30 years in prison.

Mercadel has seven previous felony convictions, including two for drugs, Ohms said.

Mercadel, affiliated with a street gang in Long Beach, was indicted in November 1994 and convicted last March of possessing and selling more than 50 grams of crack cocaine.

He was arrested on April 12, 1994, after police officer Sean Nemec observed a drug sale in downtown Spokane.

, DataTimes