NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) – A Hampton auto shop owner denied using the business in a drug trafficking conspiracy, but a federal jury found him guilty Friday.

Orlando Adkins, 45, will face at least five years in prison when he’s sentenced on the charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and marijuana.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Adkins used his auto repair business, Elite Customs, to distribute and possess cocaine, fentanyl and marijuana. His co-conspirators used several means to transport to drugs to Virginia, purchased from suppliers in Mexico, Texas, California and North Carolina.

Witnesses testified Elite Customs was used as the home base of operations for the conspiracy. The scheme continued from approximately September 2019 until Adkins’ arrest in April 2022.

He pleaded guilty on June 26, 2023 to distribution of marijuana, maintaining a drug-involved premises, and two counts of using a communication facility in furtherance of drug trafficking, but denied involvement in the drug trafficking conspiracy.

A jury convicted him on the conspiracy charge. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on November 28.