A Lusby man with six prior drug distribution convictions was sentenced to 40 years in prison, with 18 years to serve, after being convicted of possessing more than 100 grams of cocaine with intent to distribute during a December 2024 traffic stop in Lexington Park, St. Mary’s County State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling announced Monday.
Robert Marcus Goldring, 48, was sentenced as a subsequent offender for possession with intent to distribute cocaine, a designation that applies enhanced penalties under Maryland law to defendants with prior convictions for the same offense. St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s deputies stopped a vehicle near Pegg Road and Liberty Street on Dec. 11, 2024, and after a K-9 alerted to the odor of a controlled substance, deputies searched Goldring, a passenger in the car, and recovered two bags containing more than 100 grams of cocaine. Cpl. Travis Wimberly of the sheriff’s office led the investigation, and Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Lisa Ridge, chief of the office’s narcotics division, prosecuted the case before the Honorable Amy Lorenzini.
“When an individual repeatedly returns to drug trafficking despite prior convictions, protecting the community requires significant consequences,” Sterling said in a statement. “This is the Defendant’s seventh conviction for possession with intent to distribute narcotics, which demonstrates a dangerous and persistent pattern of criminal conduct. Holding repeat drug dealers accountable is essential to disrupting the cycle of addiction, violence, and loss that illegal narcotics create.”
Under Maryland law, a standard conviction for possession with intent to distribute a narcotic such as cocaine carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. That maximum doubles to 40 years for defendants who have at least two prior convictions for the same offense, the enhancement Goldring’s seventh conviction triggered. Maryland’s sentencing scheme for repeat drug offenders also allows for mandatory minimum sentences in some circumstances, though judges retain discretion to depart from mandatory minimums if they find a harsher sentence would create a substantial injustice or is not required to protect the public — a determination made case by case at sentencing.
The case is one of several high-profile prosecutions Sterling’s office has touted since she took office in January 2023 as the first woman elected St. Mary’s County State’s Attorney on a platform that emphasized tougher prosecution of violent crime and repeat offenders. Her office has secured a string of lengthy sentences in the past year, including a 35-year sentence for rape in October 2025, a 40-year term in a child abuse case in November 2025, and a 21-year sentence in a separate child sexual abuse case last month.
The prosecution also reflects the continued role of narcotics enforcement within the sheriff’s office’s Criminal Investigations Division and the state’s attorney’s dedicated narcotics unit, which handles drug distribution cases that frequently originate from routine traffic stops and K-9 searches, similar to the stop that led to Goldring’s arrest. St. Mary’s County has seen a steady stream of felony drug distribution cases move through circuit court in recent years, part of continuing efforts by local law enforcement to target repeat distributors rather than only low-level users.
Goldring’s sentence of 18 years of active incarceration means he will serve nearly half of the maximum 40-year term imposed, with the balance suspended in favor of a period of supervised probation upon his eventual release, a common structure in Maryland felony sentencing that allows courts to impose a lengthy total sentence while requiring only a portion to be served in custody up front.
Maryland’s sentencing guidelines, which judges consult alongside statutory maximums, weigh factors including the severity and circumstances of the current offense, the quantity of drugs involved and a defendant’s full criminal history when recommending an appropriate range for a given case. With six prior convictions for the same offense on his record, Goldring’s guidelines range would have reflected a far more severe recommendation than a first-time offender would face for an identical arrest, a distinction prosecutors say is central to how Maryland’s repeat-offender enhancements are meant to function.
