A Meridian man was found guilty of attempted witness tampering Wednesday in the U.S. Southern District Court of Mississippi.

Daniel Robert was indicted in 2009 for narcotics trafficking across several states and was a fugitive until he was arrested in June 2018. Shortly after being arrested, Roberts directed his family to tell witnesses not to testify.

“Soon after his arrest, Robert made numerous phone calls to his family members directing them to tell witnesses not to appear for trial by avoiding subpoenas, to testify that they could not remember facts of the case, or to simply refuse to testify,” U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca of the Southern District of Mississippi and Special Agent in Charge Jermicha Fomby of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a news release.

Roberts was convicted of narcotics trafficking in January 2020 and is currently serving a 330 month sentence. He is set to be sentenced on two counts of attempted witness tampering Nov. 3.

Each witness tampering charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years and $250,000 in fines. Those sentences will be added on to his sentence for narcotics trafficking.