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Man named Reckless took kid in crown to drug deal in NC Burger King bathroom, feds say

A kid wearing a cardboard crown witnessed a drug deal in the bathroom of a North Carolina Burger King last year, according to federal prosecutors.

Now the man accused of bringing him there is going to prison.

Quadarrius “Reckless” Cotten, 23, was sentenced Tuesday to 6.5 years in prison on federal drug charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina said in a news release.

A defense attorney representing Cotten did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Wednesday.

On Jan. 22, 2020, prosecutors said Cotten sold 30 bags of heroin to an undercover cop with the Wilmington Police Department in a Burger King bathroom. Two young kids were reportedly with him at the time.

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“A photograph introduced at the sentencing hearing showed one of the children wearing a Burger King crown standing next to Cotten as he delivered the drugs,” prosecutors said.

Six days later, Cotten is accused of selling an undercover cop fentanyl and a stolen gun.

According to the news release, Wilmington police ultimately arrested Cotten on May 16, 2020, after officers running surveillance saw him get in a verbal fight with someone holding an AK-47. Cotten is “a validated gang member” and police were surveying the area after they received reports of “retaliatory gang violence,” prosecutors said.

Officers found heroin and $400 in cash when they searched him, according to the release.

Court filings show Cotten was charged in a federal indictment on May 27, 2020. A judge ordered he be detained pending trial, citing probable cause and a risk he would not appear again in court and could endanger the safety of those around him.

Cotten pleaded guilty in November to distributing heroin and fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute and possession of a gun during a drug trafficking crime.

Citing the two children allegedly present during the drug deal, prosecutors had asked for a sentencing enhancement.