A Washington man faces charges of trafficking crack cocaine after Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies say they found 33.5 grams of the drug on his person along with 55 grams of marijuana and $1,116 in cash.

Phillippi Gorham, 42, of Fleming Street in Washington, was charged earlier this month with possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine, trafficking in cocaine, possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to BCSO Drug Unit Lt. Russell Davenport, deputies had made controlled purchases of crack cocaine from Gorham prior to his arrest. On Aug. 2, the BCSO executed an arrest warrant when Gorham was spotted in an area of Washington where drug deals are known to occur.

“When we served the arrest warrant, we found he had 30-some grams of crack cocaine hidden in his pants,” Davenport said. “When I was patting him down one of the bags of crack cocaine fell out of his pants legs onto the ground. He also had marijuana in his waistband and in his vehicle.”

Because of the amount of crack discovered, Gorham was charged with the trafficking offense. Davenport said the Drug Unit is still working on determining the source of the drugs.

“When you get charged with trafficking, that’s a minimum mandatory prison sentence,” Davenport said.

According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Gorham has a history of drug convictions stretching back to 2004. Most recently, he was incarcerated at the Tyrell County Work Farm for a period of one year for possession of a firearm by a felon and possession with intent to sell schedule II and schedule VI controlled substances before being released in January 2017.

Upon his most recent arrest, Gorham was held in the Beaufort County Detention Center under a $75,000 secured bond.