MONTGOMERY – A man convicted of attempted distribution of heroin in Shelby County in 2012 will remain in prison.

Freddie Tarvaris Alexander, 33, of Clayton was sentenced to 35 years in prison in November 2012.

His case went before the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles on Tuesday, Jan. 17, according to Lt. Clay Hammac, commander of the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force.

Hammac said he and the district attorney’s office attended the hearing to protest Alexander’s possible parole.

Alexander’s parole was denied, Hammac said. Alexander could be eligible for parole again in three years.

Hammac said officials protested Alexander’s parole because heroin has become a problem of “epidemic proportions,” Alexander sold a potentially fatal dose of the drug prior to his arrest and his sentence was “just and fair.”

“Our plea was, ‘Please help us keep him behind bars,’” Hammac said. “It is one less drug dealer we have to deal with in the community.”

Alexander, who had a previous record of violent crime convictions, was arrested in August 2011 and sentenced by Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Dan Reeves.

According to Alexander’s indictment, he was arrested at the Home Depot store off U.S. 280, within three miles of a school and a public housing project.