District of Columbia

WASHINGTON – Jarrett Lewis, 44, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty today to one count of wire fraud in connection with an embezzlement scheme that bilked a District non-profit advocacy organization of more than $320,000, announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., and FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan, of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division.

            U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates scheduled a sentencing hearing for June 16, 2025.

            Lewis was employed by the victim agency between June 2021 and October 2022. According to the statement of facts, while serving as Director of Finance for the non-profit, Lewis perpetrated a scheme to defraud his employer. Lewis was one of three employees at Victim 1 with access to the non-profit’s bank account. It was part of Lewis’s duties to pay bills on behalf of the organization. Lewis was also provided with a VISA card for an account belonging to Victim 1, and was authorized to use the VISA card to incur expenses on behalf of Victim 1 for goods and services related to its operations.

            On 32 occasions, Lewis took advantage of his position by accessing Victim 1’s account and causing funds to be transferred to his personal account and for his own personal benefit. The total loss suffered by Victim 1 resulting from these transfers is $309,950.88. Lewis also used the non-profit’s VISA to book and pay for personal travel for himself, his family, and friends, totaling $9, 112. 96. In total, the parties stipulate that Lewis’s scheme to defraud amounts to a total of $321,057.98.

            Lewis was arrested on September 5, 2024. He faces a custodial sentence in addition to fines and restitution.

            This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Truscott with the Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

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24cr391

WASHINGTON – London Teeter, 21, of Washington D.C., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to her role in a series of seven inside-job robberies of the Chinatown drug store where she was employed as a store manager.

            The plea was announced United States Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            Teeter pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act robbery). The Honorable Jia M. Cobb scheduled sentencing for June 12, 2025. When she is sentenced, Teeter is eligible for up to 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

            According to court documents, Teeter, and three co-conspirators devised a scheme to carry out armed robberies of the Walgreens store in Chinatown nearly once a month, beginning in July 2023, when either she or her co-conspirator were working. As a store manager, Teeter knew the timing of cash transfers within the business. In each robbery, a masked gunman entered the store, forced an employee into the manager’s office or accessed the manager’s office using a code provided by Teeter or her co-conspirator. The gunman then robbed the employees and fled through a rear exit. Teeter and her co-conspirator took turns pretending to be the “victim” manager on duty, knowing that the robberies would be captured on internal surveillance.

            The robberies occurred on July 18, 2023, August 2, 2023, September 2, 2023, November 10, 2023, December 4, 2023, January 9, 2024, and February 11, 2024. Teeter was present in the manager’s office and pretended to be the victim of a robbery during the July 18, 2023, and January 9, 2024, robberies.

            In response to the robberies, the Chinatown Walgreens hired armed Special Police Officers to protect the business. Teeter was aware that armed Special Police Officers would be present during the robberies and that a co-conspirator robbed the officers of their firearms during the robberies that occurred on December 4, 2023, and February 11, 2024.

            In the plea agreement, Teeter admitted that the co-conspirators stole and split at least $28,983. She also acknowledged that she reviewed surveillance footage from the August 2, 2023, robbery during which a co-conspirator briefly placed his firearm on a chair Teeter acknowledged that she sent a co-conspirator a text message stating: “the vid looks so bad,” “idk why he put the gun down,” and “he can’t do it next time [not gonna lie].”

            Law enforcement arrested Teeter on February 22, 2024. During the search of her home that preceded her arrest, law enforcement recovered a loaded Glock 45 pistol loaded with 16 rounds of 9mm ammunition.

            Trial dates are pending for co-conspirators Michael Robinson, 34, Kamanye Williams, 25, and Gianni Robinson, 27.

            This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force with assistance from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).  It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin F. Song, Sarah Martin, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica Svetoslavov of the Federal Major Crimes Section.

24cr96

WASHINGTON—Rushan Lavar Reed, 47, and Celeste Nicole Reed, 28, both of Las Vegas, Nevada, were sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 51 months and 37 months in federal prison, respectively, for participating in a long-term sophisticated drug trafficking conspiracy that illegally distributed “pharmacy grade- not homemade pressed pills” nationwide across seven online darknet markets.

The sentences were announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division, Inspector in Charge Glen Henderson of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Phoenix Division, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeremy Schwartz of the Las Vegas Field Office, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division.

Rushan Reed, aka “Double R,” and Celeste Reed, aka “Calileone,” each pleaded guilty October 22, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, hydrocodone, and amphetamine. In addition to the prison terms, U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols ordered the couple to serve three years of supervised release.

According to court documents, for six years the married couple operated an online storefront called “MrsFeelGood” to illegally distribute a variety of narcotics across the United States, including the District of Columbia. They used darknet markets that included Monopoly, Versus, ASAP, AlphaBay, Wall Street, Archetyp, Bohemia, Empire, Dream, and White House. In addition to oxycodone, hydrocodone, and amphetamines, they also sold and distributed MDMA, codeine, Vyvanse, Dilaudid, and marijuana. Operating on the darkweb made it possible for the Reeds to hide their identities, hide the location of their computers, and hide their illegal sales. In addition, they used cryptocurrency to launder their money so that the illegal proceeds of their drug trafficking would be difficult to trace.

On October 11, 2023, law enforcement executed arrest warrants at the couple’s Las Vegas home and arrested them both. Officers recovered, among other things: multiple pills in prescription bottles, packaging materials; gloves; black Ziploc bags; and empty prescription pill bottles with the names of the defendants and other uncharged coconspirators. Officers also recovered an assortment of electronic devices and an AR-15 firearm. The laptop was set up to use an operating system designed to access the darknet and protect against surveillance.

This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office, the FBI Las Vegas Field Office, the USPIS Washington Division, and USPIS Phoenix Division.

The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Peter V. Roman with valuable assistance provided by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Isabelle Sun, former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Crosby, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy Wang.

            WASHINGTON –Samuel Peaks, 36, of Washington, D.C., has been found guilty by a jury, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, of one count of first degree sexual abuse while armed with aggravating circumstances for a February 12, 2013 assault of a stranger in the 4400 block of Gault Place, NE, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). 

            Sentencing is scheduled in front of Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz for May 2, 2025. Peaks faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

            According to the government’s evidence that was presented at trial, at approximately 6:00 a.m., on February 12, 2013, Peaks encountered the victim at the Minnesota Ave. Metro and tried to speak with her. The victim rejected his advances and walked away. The defendant followed her, brandished a gun, forced her to put a condom on his penis, and perform a sexual act on him. Peaks threw the condom on the ground afterward. The victim immediately reported to police, who responded and recovered the condom.

            The condom was timely tested for DNA in 2013 and resulted in a mixture of DNA from the victim and an unknown male. The case was pending without an identification of a suspect until the defendant was arrested for an attempted homicide in Maryland in 2020, where his DNA was collected pursuant to Maryland’s DNA upon arrest law and entered into CODIS.

            The defendant’s DNA was compared to the male profile from the seized condom developed in the 2013 DNA testing and was determined to be a match.

            This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

            The case was investigated by Assistant United States Attorney Amy Zubrensky and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah Folse and Raha Mokhtari, of the Sex Offense and Domestic Violence Section.

WASHINGTON – Damion Brown, 33, of Washington D.C., was sentenced today to 18 years in prison and lifetime supervision, for sexually abusing the 13-year-old daughter of his long-time girlfriend in February of 2023, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            The defendant was convicted on May 7, 2024, by a Superior Court jury of ten felony charges, including first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree child sexual abuse following a multi-day jury trial. The Honorable Judge Anthony Epstein also ordered Brown to stay away and have no contact with the victim or her mother.

            According to the government’s evidence, on February 24, 2023, the 13-year-old victim was home alone with the defendant, who was the victim’s mother’s live-in boyfriend. While the victim was changing clothes, the defendant came into her room and began hugging and kissing her and pushed her onto her bed. The defendant performed a number of sexual acts on the child, then left the room laughing. The victim immediately left the apartment and reported to her aunt, who called the police. The defendant was still in the apartment when police arrived.

            Subsequent DNA testing determined that the defendant could not be excluded from the positive results of DNA found on the victim after the abuse.           

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Martin and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including Victim Advocate Veronica Vaughn; former Forensic Child Interviewer Tracy Owusu; Paralegals ReShawn Johnson and Garcia Clarke; and Katina Washington-Adams, who assisted with witness travel, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Folse and Robert Platt, who prosecuted the case.

WASHINGTON – Aniq-Kai Covington, 16, of Washington, D.C., was charged as an adult (under Title 16) on February 11, 2025, in Superior Court with armed carjacking in connection with an August 13, 2024 incident in Southeast D.C. The charge was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

           According to documents filed in court, on August 13, 2024, at approximately 9:15 p.m., police officers were dispatched to the 2700 block of  31st Street S.E., where they located the victim of an armed carjacking. The victim told the officers that at least two suspects approached the victim, who was sitting in their vehicle waiting for a family member. One suspect approached the victim’s driver’s side door and pointed a firearm at the victim, ordering the victim to get out of the vehicle. Another suspect attempted to open the victim’s passenger door. The victim complied and got out of the car. The first suspect then demanded money and took the victim’s wallet and cell phone, before the suspects fled northbound on 31st Street, SE in the victim’s car.  The victim borrowed a phone from a family member and called 911. 

           The victim’s vehicle was located in the 2500 block of High Street S.E., stationary and unoccupied, just before 9:30 p.m., approximately 15 minutes after police were dispatched to the scene of the carjacking.  The victim’s vehicle was forensically processed, and a latent fingerprint recovered from the interior passenger’s side door handle was later determined to belong to Covington. 

           Covington was presented in court yesterday and ordered detained. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for February 14, 2025.

           The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Winer is prosecuting the case.

           These charges are merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

WASHINGTON – Tyree Eugene McCombs, 29, of Washington D.C., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 228 months in federal prison for his role in the September 2022 stalking, armed robbery, and kidnapping of a pair of victims in Alexandria, Virginia, and for the November 2022 stalking, kidnapping, robbery, and shooting of a woman in Maryland and Washington, D.C. 

           The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., and FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division. 

          McCombs pleaded guilty on August 14, 2024, before U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson, to one count of conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery (a “Hobbs Act” robbery) for the September 2022 offense, and to one count of kidnapping for the November 2022 offense. In addition to the 228-month prison-term, Judge Berman Jackson ordered McCombs to serve five years of supervised release. 

           According to court documents, in September and November 2022, McCombs and his co-conspirators twice executed plans to surveil, stalk, forcibly detain, bind, assault, and rob women at gunpoint. McCombs was a leader in both schemes, personally stalking the victims, holding them at gunpoint, physically assaulting them, and demanding that they pay their own ransoms. In each case, the kidnapping was abruptly cut short either by the sound of an alarm (September) or the victim’s daring escape (November).

           During the first incident, on the evening on September 3, 2022, the two victims entered their car – a black Mercedes S63 AMG Sedan – and drove from Alexandria, Virginia to a family gathering in Maryland. Unbeknownst to the victims, they were being electronically surveilled. A GPS tracking device purchased by McCombs had been placed inside the Mercedes. That night, McCombs and three co-conspirators laid in wait for nearly four hours for the victims to return home to their apartment building in Alexandria. As the couple returned to their building, McCombs and his co-conspirators, wearing masks and blue surgical gloves and carrying zip ties, ambushed them with handguns and robbed them of their most valuable belongings.

           McCombs and his crew stole two Audemars Piguet watches worth about $120,000 from the couple and another $63,500 worth of jewelry, including a Cuban link chain and a custom pendant with the letters “GQ” overlaid on a speedometer. McCombs and his co-conspirators took the keys to the victim’s Mercedes then forced the victims at gunpoint from the parking garage to the victims’ apartment.

           Once inside of the apartment, McCombs and his co-conspirators pistol-whipped the victims and ordered them to tell them where their money was hidden. The co-conspirators ransacked the residence but were unable to find any cash. During the crime, a security alarm activated, and the co-conspirators tore the alarm from the wall and fled the apartment. McCombs and his co-conspirators then fled the apartment complex in a stolen white Kia as well as the victim’s Mercedes, which still had the GPS tracking device inside. The co-conspirators drove the Mercedes into Washington, D.C. then abandoned the vehicle in Maryland, where it was found by law enforcement. About a month later, on October 10, 2022, McCombs sold the custom pendant, worth tens of thousands of dollars, to a pawn shop in Maryland for $200.

           On the night of November 7, 2022, McCombs led another kidnapping and robbery, this time targeting and abducting a 25-year-old woman in Maryland. At the time of this crime, McCombs was on supervised release for a 2019 attempted armed robbery conviction and, two weeks earlier, had been ordered to wear a GPS monitor. McCombs’s GPS data showed that he stalked the woman for hours through the evening of November 7, following her from work to a family member’s home to a bank. Eventually, the victim traveled by car to an apartment building in Elkridge, Maryland. McCombs and a co-conspirator, traveling in a carjacked Toyota Camry, followed her to the Elkridge apartment.

           As the victim exited her vehicle and began to enter the building, McCombs and his co-conspirator grabbed her and forced her into the back seat of the Camry at gunpoint. The kidnappers pistol-whipped the victim, robbed her, and bound her hands behind her back using a black plastic zip tie. McCombs and his co-conspirator then held the woman captive in the vehicle for nearly three hours, driving to various locations in Maryland and Washington, D.C. Surveillance video footage from a gas station in Forestville, Maryland, captured McCombs and his co-conspirator exiting the Camry with the victim still held inside. As McCombs walked into the gas station to purchase gas, the co-conspirator entered the back seat of the vehicle and sexually assaulted the victim. After leaving the gas station, the kidnappers, who had already taken a significant amount of cash and property from the victim, repeatedly demanded to know “who she could call to save her life, that could get more money,” while threatening to kill her.

        The victim, believing she was going to be killed, used her foot to open a rear door of the vehicle, pushed open the door, and, after struggling with McCombs, jumped out of the moving vehicle. As she sprinted down the street, McCombs and the co-conspirator fired at least five gunshots at her, striking her twice in the foot. Within minutes of the shooting, law enforcement identified McCombs based on his GPS data. They located and arrested McCombs, who was still wearing the GPS monitor, several hours later.

           This case was investigated by FBI Washington Field Office’s Violent Crimes Task Force. The Fairfax County Police Department, Howard County Police Department, and Metropolitan Police Department assisted with the investigation. The matter was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meredith Mayer-Dempsey and Charles R. Jones.

McCombs (center) and his co-conspirators carry the Alexandria victims’ shoes and handbag in the hallway of the apartment building.

Crime scene photograph taken inside the Alexandria apartment where McCombs’s first victims resided.

Still images of McCombs and his co-conspirator abducting a woman at gunpoint in Maryland on November 7, 2022.

McCombs (right) and a co-conspirator talk at the gas station in Forestville, MD, as the victim remains captive in the back seat of a carjacked Toyota Camry.

22cr377

WASHINGTON – Ezra Griffith, 34, a twice convicted felon from Washington D.C., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 42 months in federal prison in connection with his illegal possession on a District playground of a Glock loaded with 30 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition. The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

           Griffith was found guilty by a jury on September 19, 2024, of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. In addition to the 42-month prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta ordered Griffith to serve 36 years of supervised release. 

           According to the evidence presented to the jury, on November 15, 2023, about 8:40 p.m., members of the MPD’s Fifth District Crime Suppression Team entered the parking lot of the Rosedale Recreation Center in Northeast Washington, D.C. Officers observed a small group of people congregating inside the fenced-in playground next to the recreation center building. The park was closed. In fact, there was a sign next to the playground’s only entrance noting that it was open from dawn to dusk. The officers went to make contact with the group.

As officers approached the fenced-in playground, Griffith immediately sat down on a concrete partition and moved his hands near the front of his waistband, appearing to adjust an object in his lap. Subsequently, Griffith got up and sprinted along the inside fence line of the playground. Officers briefly lost sight of Griffith before stopping him moments later inside the playground area.

Officers canvassed Griffith’s flight path and recovered a Glock 27 .40 caliber semiautomatic firearm loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition. Griffith has two prior felony convictions in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, for carrying a pistol without a license and for attempted robbery.

           This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department. It was prosecuted by  Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory V. Cole.

Police recovered a black Glock 27 .40 caliber semi-automatic loaded with 29 rounds of ammunition in a thirty-round magazine and one round in the chamber.

23cr0227

WASHINGTON – Christina Marie Chapman, 48, of Litchfield Park, Arizona, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. in connection with a scheme that assisted overseas IT workers—posing as U.S. citizens and residents—in working at more than 300 U.S. companies in remote IT positions. The scheme generated more than $17 million in illicit revenue for herself and for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea).

            The plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; FBI Special Agent in Charge Jose A. Perez of the Phoenix Field Office, and IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Carissa Messick for IRS Criminal Investigation's Phoenix Field Office.

            Chapman pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss scheduled sentencing for June 16, 2025. Under the terms of the plea agreement, the parties will jointly recommend that the Court impose a sentence of 94 to 111 months in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            According to court documents, Chapman, an American citizen, conspired with overseas IT workers from October 2020 to October 2023 to steal the identities of U.S. nationals and used those identities to apply for remote IT jobs and, in furtherance of the scheme, transmitted false documents to the Department of Homeland Security. Chapman and her coconspirators obtained jobs at hundreds of U.S. companies, including Fortune 500 corporations, often through temporary staffing companies or other contracting organizations.

            Chapman received and hosted computers from the U.S. companies, creating a “laptop farm” at her home, so that the companies would believe the workers were in the United States. As a result of Chapman’s assistance, the overseas IT workers gained access to the internal systems of the U.S. companies.

            Chapman’s overseas IT workers received more than $17.1 million for their work. Much of the income was falsely reported to the IRS and Social Security Administration in the names of actual U.S. individuals whose identities had been stolen.

            As a result of the conduct of Chapman and her conspirators, more than 300 U.S. companies were impacted, more than 70 identities of U.S. person were compromised, on more than 100 occasions false information was conveyed to DHS, and more than 70 U.S. individuals had false tax liabilities created in their name.

            This case was investigated by the FBI Counterintelligence Division, the FBI Phoenix Field Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, and IRS Criminal Investigation Phoenix Field Office with assistance from the FBI Chicago Field Office.

            It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Prosecutors Joshua Rothstein, Karen Seifert, Thomas Gillice, and Trial Attorney Ashley Pungello of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section. Trial Attorney Gregory J. Nicosia Jr. of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section provided valuable assistance.

24cr220

WASHINGTON – A Superior Court jury today found Deangelo Glover, 33, and Ronnie Wallace, 48, both of Washington, D.C., guilty of murder and other charges related to the January 19, 2021, murder of Tyrone Wright, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

           Wallace was found guilty of one count of first-degree murder while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence for Wright’s murder, plus one count of assault with intent to kill while armed for shooting a second victim, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and one count of carrying a pistol without a license.

           Glover was found guilty of one count of second-degree murder, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and one count of carrying a pistol without a license. Superior Court Judge Jason Park scheduled sentencing for May 2, 2025.

           According to the government’s evidence, on Tuesday January 19, 2021, in a parking lot in front of 3804 Hayes Street NE within the Mayfair Mansions Apartment complex, Ronnie Wallace shot the decedent, Tyrone Wright on belief that Mr. Wright was one of the persons responsible for his brother Marcus Wallace’s murder. In the process, a bystander was shot a single time in the leg. Within moments of Wallace’s initial shots, his cousin and co-defendant Deangelo Glover, ran out of an adjacent building and shot Mr. Wright repeatedly, ending his life.

           This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrea Coronado and Matthew Covert.

WASHINGTON – Eric Council, 25, of Athens, Alabama, entered a guilty plea today to one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft in United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Council was arrested on October 17, 2024, in connection with his role in a conspiracy to hack into the X account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and publish fraudulent posts in the name of the then-SEC Chairman. 

           The plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, SEC Inspector General Deborah Jeffrey and FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office, Criminal and Cyber Division.

           Council’s plea was entered before U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson in the District of Columbia. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release. His sentencing is scheduled for May 16, 2025.

            According to court documents, from at least January 2024, Council conspired with others to carry out Subscriber Identity Model (SIM) attacks, commonly referred to as “SIM swaps,” in exchange for money. 

       A SIM card is a chip that stores information identifying and authenticating a cell phone subscriber and connects a physical cell phone to a mobile carrier’s cellular and data network. A SIM swap attack is a form of sophisticated fraud where criminal actors fraudulently induce a mobile carrier to reassign a mobile phone number from a victim’s SIM card to a SIM card and telephone controlled by a criminal actor attempting to access valuable information associated with the victim’s telephone. Members of SIM swapping groups conduct SIM swaps for the purpose of defeating multifactor authentication and/or two-step verification security features for internet connected accounts, such as social media and virtual currency accounts. 

           After convincing a mobile carrier to reassign a phone number to a new SIM card in the criminal actor’s control, members of the conspiracy generate password reset security authentication codes for online accounts and those codes are in turn sent to the telephone in the control of the criminal actor. Members of SIM swap groups share the security reset codes with one another to unlawfully access a victim’s internet connected accounts and complete the fraud. 

           On or about January 9, 2024, Council, and others, executed a SIM swap of the mobile phone account associated with the @SECgov X account, the official account of the SEC. The purpose of this SIM swap was to gain unauthorized access to this government account in order to make fraudulent posts. 

           Before January 9, a member of the conspiracy had identified the authorized user for the phone number linked to the official @SECgov X account. Council received instruction from a co-conspirator to perform the SIM swap on this phone line, along with information to make the needed fake ID, that is, an image of an ID card template with the authorized user’s name on it but Council’s face, and information purporting to be the user’s date of birth and social security number. 

           Council used his portable ID card printer to create a physical ID which he used to impersonate the victim at an AT&T store in Huntsville, Alabama. Council provided false information to the AT&T store employee to explain why he needed a replacement SIM card. Council obtained the SIM card linked to the victim’s phone line and walked to a nearby Apple store where he purchased a new iPhone to use in the crime.  He inserted the SIM card to activate the phone, received the @SECGov X password reset codes on this new phone linked to the victim’s SIM card and used his personal cell phone to take a photo of the @SECgov X account reset code to share with his co-conspirators. After passing along the password reset codes, Council drove to Birmingham, Alabama and immediately returned the iPhone for cash.  

           A member of the conspiracy used the reset code to gain access to the @SECGov X account and issue a fraudulent post in the name of the then-SEC Chairman, falsely announcing SEC approval of Bitcoin (BTC) Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). The price of BTC increased by more than $1,000 following the post. Shortly after this unauthorized post, the SEC regained control over their X account and confirmed that the announcement was unauthorized and the result of a security breach, which caused the value of BTC decreased by more than $2,000.

            Council also admitted to attempting to perform additional SIM swaps in June 2024 in Alabama. In June 2024, the FBI executed a search warrant at an Athens, Alabama, apartment where he resided. Agents recovered a fake identification card and a portable ID card printer. They also recovered a laptop computer. 

           Pursuant to the search warrant, agents searched the laptop and discovered templates for additional fake identification cards stored on the laptop along with internet searches for “SECGOV hack,” “telegram sim swap,” “how can I know for sure if I am being investigated by the FBI,” “What are the signs that you are under investigation by law enforcement or the FBI even if you have not been contacted by them,” “what are some signs that the FBI is after you,” “Verizon store list,” “federal identity theft statute,” and “how long does it take to delete telegram account.” 

            Council admitted to receiving approximately $50,000 from members of the conspiracy to perform SIM swap during the previous six months.   

           This case is being investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, the SEC-Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and Fraud Section’s Market Integrity and Major Frauds Unit of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. Significant assistance was provided by the FBI’s Birmingham Field Office.

          The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Rosenberg, CCIPS Trial Attorney Ashley Pungello, and Fraud Section Trial Attorney Lauren Archer. Valuable assistance was provided by Assistant United States Attorney John Hundscheid from the Northern District of Alabama.

         For more information on SIM swapping, go to: https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2024/PSA240411

24cr0457

WASHINGTON – Darnell Peoples, 22, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced on Monday, February 10, 2025, to 20 years in prison for the armed oral sexual assault of a senior citizen at her home in Southeast Washington, D.C., announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). On November 15, 2024, Peoples pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree sexual abuse in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

           Peoples has been in custody since his arrest on June 11, 2024. His guilty plea called for an agreed-upon 20-year prison sentence. The Honorable Anthony C. Epstein accepted the plea today and sentenced the defendant accordingly. Upon release, Peoples will be required to register as a sex offender, and be on supervised release, for the remainder of his life.

           According to a proffer of facts submitted at the plea hearing, on June 11, 2024, the victim was working in her yard. Peoples approached the victim from behind, displayed a knife, and told the victim to get on her knees. When the victim informed Peoples that she could not get on her knees, Peoples grabbed her and threw her to the ground. Peoples then pulled down his pants and exposed his penis. He pulled the victim’s head toward his penis and forcefully inserted his penis into the victim’s mouth multiple times.

           In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Martin and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section Cybercrime Lab. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Sourbeer, who investigated and prosecuted the case.

            WASHINGTON – Miquel Beasley, 22, of Bryans Road, MD, was charged on February 5, 2025, and ordered detained on February 7, 2025, for an armed carjacking stemming from an offense in Southeast D.C., announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            According to court records, at approximately 3:15 p.m. on March 22, 2024, the victim met up with Beasley in the 3900 block of First Street SE to purchase marijuana.  Beasley entered the victim’s car, asked if the victim wanted to purchase marijuana, and the victim handed Beasley approximately $250.  Beasley then pulled out a firearm, pointed it at the victim, and demanded that the victim get out of the car or else he would shoot the victim.  The victim got out of his car, and Beasley got into the driver’s seat of the victim’s car and drove away. 

            An arrest warrant was issued on June 20, 2024, and Beasley was arrested on that warrant on January 30, 2025. 

            This case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).  It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

            An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

An Alabama man pleaded guilty today in connection with the January 2024 unauthorized takeover of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s social media account on X, formerly known as Twitter, in which hackers posted a fraudulent message in the name of the then-SEC Chairman, temporarily causing the value of Bitcoin (BTC) to increase by more than $1,000.

According to court documents, Eric Council Jr., 25, of Athens, conspired with others who took unauthorized control of the SEC’s X account and falsely announced that the SEC approved BTC Exchange Traded Funds, a decision highly anticipated by the market. Immediately following the false announcement, the price of BTC increased by more than $1,000 per bitcoin. Shortly after this unauthorized post, the SEC regained control over its X account and confirmed that the announcement was false and the result of a security breach. Following the correction, the value of BTC decreased by more than $2,000 per bitcoin.

The conspirators gained control of the SEC’s X account through an unauthorized Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) swap carried out by Council. A SIM swap refers to the process of fraudulently inducing a cell phone carrier to reassign a cell phone number from the legitimate subscriber or user’s SIM card to a SIM card controlled by a criminal actor. As part of the scheme, Council used an identification card printer to create a fraudulent identification card with a victim’s personally identifiable information obtained from his co-conspirators. Council used the fraudulent identification card to impersonate the victim and gain access to the victim’s cellular phone number for the purpose of accessing the SEC’s account. Council’s co-conspirators then accessed the account and posted in the name of the SEC Chairman. Council received payment in bitcoin from his co-conspirators for his role.   

Council pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 16 and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. for the District of Columbia; Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the FBI Washington Field Office, Criminal and Cyber Division; and SEC Inspector General Deborah Jeffrey made the announcement.

The FBI Washington Field Office and SEC Office of Inspector General are investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Ashley Pungello of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, Trial Attorney Lauren Archer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Rosenberg for the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case. Substantial assistance was provided by Cyber Fellow Paul M. Zebb III.

For more information on SIM swapping, visit www.ic3.gov/PSA/2024/PSA240411.

WASHINGTON – Devan Green, 30, of Washington DC, was sentenced today to 180 months in prison, for stabbing his girlfriend in their apartment on September 19, 2023, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            The defendant was convicted on November 14, 2024, by a Superior Court jury of one count of assault with intent to kill while armed, one count of assault with a dangerous weapon, one count of aggravated assault while armed, and one count of assault with significant bodily injury while armed following a 13-day jury trial. The Honorable Judge Rainey Brandt also ordered Green to stay away and have no contact with the victim or her son. 

            According to the evidence presented at trial, Green held his girlfriend and her child inside of their apartment against their will for over forty minutes while her family called 911 numerous times. Green put her son in a back bedroom and stabbed his girlfriend once in the chest with a knife. When she went to check on her son, he stabbed her 20 more times. He then fled the apartment and was apprehended a month later.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Martin and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney’s Molly K. Smith and Katharine E. Yaske of the Domestic Violence Section, who prosecuted the case.

WASHINGTON – Elijah Porter, 20, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty today in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to charges from two armed robberies, committed in 2023, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Porter pleaded guilty to armed robbery for an incident on December 2, 2023; he pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon and assault with intent to commit robbery for an incident on November 8, 2023. Superior Court Judge Deborah Israel scheduled a sentencing hearing for May 30, 2025. 

            According to the government’s evidence, on December 2, 2023, Porter, using a false Facebook account, responded to a Facebook Marketplace advertisement for the sale of an Apple MacBook. The defendant arranged for the victim to meet him in the 1300 block of Orren Street NE. When the victim arrived, Porter asked to inspect the MacBook, so the victim handed the MacBook to the defendant. The defendant then pulled out what appeared to be a black handgun and stole the MacBook from the victim. A search, conducted two days later at Porter’s residence, resulted in the recovery of the victim’s MacBook.

            On November 8, 2023, Porter created an advertisement for the sale of Apple iPhones using a false Facebook account and the victim responded to the advertisement, eventually agreeing to meet with the defendant to discuss the purchase of the iPhones posted for sale. Porter arranged for the victim to meet him in the 1300 block of Orren Street NE. When the victim arrived, Porter and an accomplice got into the victim’s vehicle and struck the victim in the face with what appeared to be a handgun. Porter and the accomplice then stole personal property belonging to the victim.

            Porter was apprehended on December 4, 2023, and has been in custody ever since.

            This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Travis Wolf.

WASHINGTON – Craig Eastman, 21, of Washington D.C., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 165 months in federal prison for participating in a massive fentanyl trafficking conspiracy that distributed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills from Southern California to destinations throughout the United States, including the District. Eastman was one of more than two dozen co-defendants arrested over the course of 2023 in D.C., Virginia, Maryland, San Diego, and Los Angeles and charged in the conspiracy.

            The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., DEA Special Agent in Charge Ibrar A. Mian of the Washington Division, Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            Eastman pleaded guilty on July 25, 2024, to conspiring to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. In addition to the 165-month prison term, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered Eastman to serve five years of supervised release.

            The impetus for this investigation was the overdose death of Diamond Lynch, a young mother in Southeast D.C. In addition to investigating and prosecuting the death-resulting case,[1] law enforcement followed the evidence and uncovered a vast network of traffickers who transported fentanyl from Mexico to Los Angeles to the District of Columbia. Since then, investigators have seized more than 450,000 fentanyl pills, 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl powder, and 30 firearms.         

            According to court documents, Eastman entered into the conspiracy after he was introduced to a Los Angeles-based drug trafficker, who was a distributor of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills. Eastman traveled to Southern California to purchase the fake oxycodone from the L.A. supplier and returned to the District with the drugs. Eastman and his co-conspirators employed two primary methods to transport the pills to the District: they smuggled them in luggage or carry-on items on airline flights, or they shipped the pills utilizing the U.S. Postal Service and commercial mail carriers

            After transporting the fentanyl-laced pills back to the District of Columbia, Eastman redistributed them for profit, primarily in collaboration with a co-defendant. Two redistributors of the pills were his siblings, Larry and Justice Eastman, who later were convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. Ms. Lynch was a customer of Larry and Justice Eastman.

            Craig Eastman not only knew of Ms. Lynch’s overdose death, but proceeded to attempt to sell the batch of pills that included Ms. Lynch’s fatal dose at a discount rather than simply destroy them and incur the financial loss. Specifically, the month after Ms. Lynch’s overdose death, Craig Eastman marketed the same bulk supply of pills that included Ms. Lynch’s fatal dose. Craig Eastman informed a prospective customer that he “caught a bad batch of some 30s,” and asked the customer to “see if [he] got somebody to sell em to[,] I got endless.”

            Craig Eastman also had been found in residences containing firearms on multiple occasions. On September 1, 2021, law enforcement searched Craig Eastman’s residence in the 2300 block of Raynolds Place SE. Agents found him inside his bedroom, along with 204 fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills, multiple firearms and accompanying magazines and ammunition, as well as several thousand dollars in cash. On December 4, 2021, officers searched Eastman’s residence and recovered four firearms, about $1,700 in cash, and distribution quantities of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills. In his bedroom specifically, officers found a Glock 17 equipped with a high-capacity magazine and a machine gun conversion device, along with fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills. When Craig Eastman was arrested along with co-defendant Charles Taylor on March 22, 2023, in a stash house in the District, officers recovered seven firearms (including one machine gun), assorted ammunition, more than a dozen pounds of marijuana, and a pill bottle containing fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills.

DEFENDANT

AGE

LOCATION

CHARGES/SENTENCE

Hector David Valdez,

aka “Curl”

27

Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

Conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

Craig Eastman

21

21

20

Bell Gardens,

California

28

Bell Gardens,

California

27

Bell Gardens,

California

Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

Conspiracy to commit international money laundering

34

Marvin Anthony Bussie,

aka “Money Marr”

22

29

27

30

Andre Malik Edmond,

aka “Draco”

23

Treyveon James Johnson,

aka “Treyski”

20

Karon Olufemi Blalock,

aka “Fat Bags”

30

Ronte Ricardo Greene,

aka “Cardiddy”

29

39

Darius Quincy Hodges,

aka “Brick”

34

Lamin Sesay,

aka “Rock Star”

28

26

Glendale,

California

Omar Arana,

aka “Frogs”

27

Cudahy,

California

27

San Diego,

California

30

Long Beach,

California

30

26

Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

Conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

           These prosecutions followed a joint investigation by the DEA Washington Division and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division, in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The investigation had additional support from the DEA’s Los Angeles, San Diego, and Riverside Field Divisions, the FBI Washington Field Office, and the Charles County, Maryland, Sheriff’s Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Central and Southern Districts of California, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the District of Maryland.

            The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Kinskey, Solomon S. Eppel, and Iris McCranie of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses (VRTO) Section. 

[1] https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/brother-and-sister-sentenced-drug-conspiracy-involving-fentanyl-sales

WASHINGTON – Firoz Patel, 50, of Montreal, Canada, was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison today in connection with his efforts to conceal and launder 450 Bitcoin, currently valued at over $43 million, that he hid from the U.S. District Court handling his 2020 conviction and sentencing for conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and to commit money laundering. 

           The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., HSI Acting Special Agent in Charge Kai Wah Chan of Homeland Security Investigation’s Washington, D.C., Field Office.

           Patel plead guilty on September 17, 2024, to one count of obstruction of an official proceeding. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Dabney L. Friedrich ordered  three years of supervised release, a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $24,020,699.83, and forfeiture of 450 Bitcoin plus interest currently restrained at a virtual currency exchange in the United Kingdom. 

           In 2020, Patel was convicted and sentenced to 36 months for operating Payza, an illegal financial payments platform that processed cryptocurrency payments.

           According to court documents, in 2004 Patel began operating his payment processing company AlertPay, which evolved into Payza. The Montreal company offered its services to customers across the United States, even though the business lacked a license to operate in any state or the District of Columbia. 

            Throughout Payza’s existence, the company partnered with various money services businesses, such as OboPay in 2012, another online money services business. At Patel’s direction, merchants were not removed from Payza’s platform for being involved in high-risk activities such as Ponzi schemes, money laundering activities, multilevel-marketing (MLM) scams, money-cycler scams, pyramid schemes, and steroid distributors. Payza did not have a Bank Secrecy Act Officer, it did not conduct legally required Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money-laundering audits, and it operated in the United States at various times without registering with the U.S. Department of Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) or state authorities.

           On July 16, 2020, Patel pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business and to launder monetary instruments, based on his operation of Payza. As a condition of his plea, he was required to identify and forfeit any property involved in the offense to which he pleaded guilty. Although Patel had control over more than 450 Bitcoin in Payza’s illicit proceeds—valued at approximately $24,000,000 at the time—he provided false information to the U.S. Probation Office and the Court in an attempt to hide his illicit Bitcoin wealth, including by claiming his only assets were $30,000 in a retirement savings account. 

             On November 10, 2020, then-District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson sentenced the defendant to 36 months in prison and two years of supervised release and entered an agreed-upon order requiring Patel to forfeit any property involved in his offense, as well as any property traceable to such property.  Rather than comply, shortly after his sentencing but before reporting to prison, Patel began consolidating Payza’s illicit cryptocurrency proceeds and attempted to deposit them with Binance, a virtual currency exchange. On April 22, 2021, Binance informed Patel that his account was being closed for violating Binance’s terms of service and being flagged by a third-party compliance tool. Forced to withdraw 450 Bitcoin, Patel opened an offshore virtual currency account in his father’s name, listed an address in Belize linked to Payza’s operations, and transferred the same 450 Bitcoin in illicit proceeds into the account shortly before he reported to the Bureau of Prisons. This second virtual currency exchange also deemed the deposit suspicious and froze the funds. 

            Patel contacted the exchange in June 2021 stating “[i]f this is about me, then realize that I am not beholden to any actions by the USA or any other government authorities. I have paid my dues and I owe nothing to anybody.” Patel tasked a Payza business associate to work on providing false Know Your Customer (KYC) information to the virtual currency exchange in an effort to unfreeze the illicit funds. Had the scheme succeeded, Patel would have successfully hid and laundered the funds and been released from prison with 450 BTC in criminal proceeds awaiting him.  The Department of Justice restrained Patel’s Bitcoin through a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty request to the United Kingdom during the course of the investigation.

             According to the Government’s sentencing memo, Patel became aware of the investigation while serving his 36-month sentence for the 2020 conviction. As Patel neared his release date, he enlisted the assistance of C.A. to impersonate an attorney and engage in sham negotiations with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. C.A. and Patel planned to string along the assigned Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) long enough for Patel to be released on his 2020 conviction and flee the United States to Canada to avoid prosecution. The AUSA and investigators discovered the false impersonation in advance of Patel’s release date and returned an Indictment of Patel in May 2023. He has been in Bureau of Prisons custody or detained pre-trial since June 2021. 

           This case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C. Field Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin L. Rosenberg and Special Assistant United States Attorney Christopher B. Brown of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and Trial Attorney Jonas Lerman of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team. Valuable assistance was also provided by Scott Meisler and Josh Handell of the Criminal Division’s Appellate Section, and by Trial Attorney Erin Mikita and former Trial Attorney Roberto Iraola of the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs. The case was originally investigated by former Assistant United States Attorney Arvind K. Lal.

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WASHINGTON – Patrick Strauss, 54, of Washington D.C., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 48 months of probation – including six months of home confinement to be followed by a period of intermittent incarceration, that is, 26 weekends in jail – and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $304,900 and fined $8,784, all for participating in a conspiracy that fraudulently obtained more than $304,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loans.

           The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, D.C. Inspector General Daniel Lucas, and Executive Special Agent in Charge Kareem A. Carter of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Washington, D.C., Field Office. 

           Strauss pleaded guilty on September 12, 2024, to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. According to court documents, Strauss was owner of Powergrid Real Estate LLC. In 2020, he was approached by someone who asked him if he wanted to file an application for a PPP loan. Strauss was aware that Powergrid did not qualify for a PPP loan because it had no employees and no payroll.

           A co-conspirator prepared the PPP loan application for Powergrid, that falsely claimed that the company had 16 employees and an average monthly payroll of $132,547.17. The co-conspirator also prepared phony federal tax forms and payroll records to support the fraudulent PPP loan applications.

          In July 2020, Strauss submitted the PPP loan application to Capital Bank. On July 29, 2020, Capital Bank wired $304,900 into Powergrid’s bank account. In July 2021, a co-conspirator prepared false and fraudulent federal tax returns. Strauss submitted the faked papers to Capital Bank in support of loan forgiveness for Powergrid. 

           The CARES Act is a federal law enacted on March 29, 2020, designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses, through the PPP.  In April 2020, Congress authorized over $300 billion in additional PPP funding. 

           The PPP allowed qualifying small-businesses and other organizations to receive loans with a maturity of two years and an interest rate of 1 percent. PPP loan proceeds were required be used by businesses on payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities. The PPP allowed the interest and principal on the PPP loan to be forgiven if the business spent the loan proceeds on these expense items within a designated time after receiving the proceeds and used at least a certain percentage of the PPP loan proceeds on payroll expenses. 

           The case was investigated jointly by U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Washington, D.C., Field Office. In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Martin commended the work of those who investigated the case.

           This matter was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Crabb, Jr. 

           Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

24cr374

WASHINGTON – Syreeta Price, 51, of Maryland, pleaded guilty today in DC Superior Court to one count of first-degree fraud for obtaining more than $20,000 from a DC Covid-19 tenant assistance program despite having no tenancy in DC. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., and District of Columbia Inspector General Daniel W. Lucas.

           The Honorable Errol Arthur accepted Price’s plea and scheduled sentencing for April 8, 2025.

           According to court documents, in 2021, Price, through a third party, submitted an application to Stronger Together by Assisting You (STAY DC), a DC government program established in 2021 to help cover unpaid rent and utilities for DC renters suffering hardship from the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite actually living in Maryland at the time, Price used the address of an acquaintance in Southeast DC to make herself appear to be a DC resident. The DC government sent her a check for $22,750 intended to cover nearly a year’s worth of unpaid rent for that DC address. Despite knowing she was not eligible for the program, Price cashed the check, deposited it into her personal bank account, and kept the money for her personal use. 

           This case was investigated by the D.C. Office of the Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Micah Bluming.

WASHINGTON – Nikhil Parekh, 37, of Randallstown, Maryland, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in connection with the theft and sale of hundreds of government-issued smartphones, laptop computers, and other IT devices that had been slated for destruction.

            The plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., Chief J. Thomas Manger of the U.S. Capitol Police, and USAID Special Agent in Charge Sean Bottary of the USAID Office of Inspector General.

            Parekh pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit an offense against the United States – that is selling stolen goods. U.S. District Court Judge Jia M. Cobb scheduled sentencing for May 5, 2025. 

           According to court documents, between February 2019 and September 2023, Parekh was a driver for an international IT asset disposition company, which operated out of Maryland and, later, Virginia.  Several government agencies as well as private companies in the region contracted with the company to take older, obsolete IT assets and completely dismantle and recycle them in a responsible manner. These services including wiping and sanitizing digital storage devices in accordance with nationally promulgated standards.

            From 2022 to 2023, Parekh and his unindicted co-conspirators served as drivers for the company and were generally responsible for receiving the IT assets from the victim agencies and companies and either securely shredding them on site or delivering them to secure shredding facilities owned by the company.  Instead, however, as Parekh admitted, he and others would surreptitiously remove the IT assets after receiving them and transport them to electronics re-sellers in the area for their own accounts. After pocketing the profits, Parekh and others would then cause the company to issue certificates to the victim agencies and companies certifying that the IT assets had been wiped and destroyed. Parekh admitted that as part of this conspiracy he and others took hundreds of assets with a value of at least $10,000.

            Investigating agents of the U.S. Capitol Police and USAID, noting that some of the resold devices still had their government asset tags on them, tracked down evidence of the transfer / sale of devices furnished by the victim agencies and companies from resellers in the area and beyond.

            At sentencing, Parekh faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. By virtue of his plea agreement, he has agreed to forfeit a variety of digital devices seized from his home pursuant to a search warrant and has agreed to pay $10,000 in restitution.

            This case was investigated by the U.S. Capitol Police and United States Agency for International Development Office of Inspector General. The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Hart, with valuable assistance from former Assistant U.S. Attorney Ahmed Baset

24cr545

WASHINGTON – Parren Hawkins, 33, of Washington, D.C., was charged today in Superior Court with armed carjacking in connection with an incident, yesterday, in Northeast D.C. The charge was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

           According to documents filed in court, at approximately 2:47 a.m. on February 2, 2025, police officers were dispatched to 331 15th Street NE, where they located the victim of an armed carjacking. The victim told the officers that the defendant approached him as he sat in his vehicle, pointed a black handgun at him and told him to get out of the vehicle. The victim complied. The defendant then demanded money and took the victim’s wallet and cell phone before fleeing northbound on the 400 block of 15th Street, NE. The victim flagged down a passerby and called 911.

           As police were interviewing the victim, Prince George’s County Police observed the stolen vehicle in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Officers began pursuing the vehicle until the defendant ultimately crashed into a curb. The driver fled on foot and police caught him on Darrington Road with a handgun in his possession.

            Hawkins was presented in court today and ordered detained.

            The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shaniqua Butler is prosecuting the case.

WASHINGTON – Eugene Burns, 32, of Washington, D.C. was sentenced today to a total of 37 years in prison, including 31 years for the murder of Onyekachi Emmanuel Osuchukwu III in November 2015. Burns was sentenced to an additional six years for conspiring to influence a witness in the murder case. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Superior Court Judge Marisa Demeo sentenced co-defendant Tyre Allen, 24, also of Washington, D.C., to three years in prison.

            On October 24, 2024, Burns was convicted by a Superior Court jury of first-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and carrying a pistol without a license. At the time he committed the murder, he was on release in a case pending before the D.C. Superior Court. On October 28, 2024, the jury convicted Burns and Allen of conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice (corrupt persuasion of a witness), and obstruction of justice (due administration of justice).

            According to the government’s evidence, on November 14, 2015, defendant Burns lured his best friend, Onyekachi Emmanuel Osuchukwu III, to Burns’s mother’s apartment in the 2900 block of 2nd Street Southeast, Washington, D.C. Burns shot the victim four times, killing him. 

            Burns was previously convicted by a jury, in 2017, of murdering the victim, but the conviction was overturned on appeal in 2020. Following the reversal, Burns and co‑defendant Tyre Allen, Burns’s cousin, conspired to and did obstruct justice by corruptly influencing a witness in the murder case to sign a false affidavit in October 2020 recanting the witness’s prior grand jury and trial testimony incriminating Burns in the murder.           

            In announcing the sentence U.S. Attorney Martin and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated this case from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Washington Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. They also acknowledged the work of former Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles Willoughby and Kevin Flynn for their work on the case and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles R. Jones and Sharon Donovan, who prosecuted and tried this case.

WASHINGTON – Darius Anderson, 23, of Washington, DC, was sentenced today to 32 years of in prison for first-degree murder while armed and related offenses in the June 2022 killing of 30-year old Israel Mattocks, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Anderson was found guilty by a jury on September 18, 2024, following a one-week trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The murder occurred in the 3900 block of Minnesota Ave, NE.  Superior Court Judge Marisa Demeo handed down the sentence.

            According to the government’s evidence, at approximately 11:00 a.m. on June 15, 2022, the victim, Mr. Mattocks, a shoe reseller, asked the defendant for help purchasing shoes from Shoe City located at the East River Park Shopping Mall. After the defendant failed to purchase the shoes for Mr. Mattocks, the two had a brief conversation and parted ways. A short time later, the two met again in another nearby local shoe store, DownTown Locker Room. Mr. Mattocks and the defendant had a brief argument. Afterwards, Mr. Mattocks left the store with another individual to return to Shoe City to buy the shoes the defendant failed to purchase. In the meantime, defendant Anderson walked home, dropped off his purchase from the DownTown Locker Room, and returned to the Shoe City. When the victim and the other individual walked out of the Shoe City, Anderson, was waiting, standing to the right entrance of the store, and fired numerous shots at Mr. Mattocks. Mr. Mattocks was shot at least six times – sustaining injuries to his left and right arms, his right chest, and his neck. He was pronounced dead a short time later.

            In announcing this verdict, U.S. Attorney Martin and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department.  They also commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ariel Dean and Stephanie Dinan. 

WASHINGTON – Ethan Cunningham, 22, of Baltimore, MD was found guilty by a Superior Court jury of two counts of felony murder while armed, and related charges stemming from a May 2022 shooting of James Lee Curtis, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            The jury also found Cunningham guilty of one count of first-degree burglary while armed, one count of attempted robbery while armed, one count of assault with a dangerous weapon, five counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, one count of carrying a pistol without a license, and one count of possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device. Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman scheduled sentencing for March 28, 2025.

            According to the government’s evidence, at approximately 9:30 p.m. on May 10, 2022, the victim, James Lee Curtis, was coming home from getting dinner and picking up his roommate.  As he was entering his building, the defendant, Ethan Cunningham, and an associate followed Curtis into his apartment building.  The defendant brandished a 9mm firearm with an extended magazine and repeatedly assaulted Curtis, demanding he open his apartment door where a child and woman were inside.  When Curtis refused to open the door, the defendant continued assaulting him throughout basement area of the apartment building until Curtis’s roommate tried to intervene.  The defendant then began shooting, striking Curtis once, and striking his roommate’s backpack. The defendant then stood over the roommate who had fallen to the ground and threatened to shoot him before fleeing the building. Curtis died from his injuries shortly thereafter.

            The defendant was arrested on May 30, 2022 and has remained detained since that date.

            This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emma McArthur and Natalie Hynum.

John Harold Rogers, 63, of Vienna, Virginia, a former Senior Adviser for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (FRB), was arrested today on charges that he conspired to steal Federal Reserve trade secrets for the benefit of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

In furtherance of the conspiracy, allegedly made false statements to the Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (FRB-OIG), and those false statements had a material impact on its investigation.

“As alleged, the defendant violated the trust placed in him by the Federal Reserve Bank by putting U.S. trade secrets in the hands of his PRC co-conspirators, knowing full well that such information would benefit the PRC Government and PRC instrumentalities,” said Devin DeBacker, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The Justice Department will continue to use all the tools at its disposal to disrupt economic espionage and protect our national security.”

“President Trump tasks us with protecting our fellow Americans from all enemies, foreign and domestic. As alleged in the indictment, this defendant leveraged his position within the Federal Reserve to pass sensitive financial information to the Chinese government, a designated adversary,” said U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. for the District of Columbia. “Let this indictment serve as a warning to all who seek to betray or exploit the United States: law enforcement will find you and hold you accountable.”

“As alleged in the indictment, Rogers betrayed his country while employed at the Federal Reserve by providing restricted U.S. financial and economic information to Chinese government intelligence officers,” said Assistant Director Kevin Vorndran of the FBI Counterintelligence Division. “This information could allow adversaries to illegally gain a strategic economic advantage at the expense of the U.S. This indictment sends a clear message that the FBI and our partners will hold accountable those who threaten our national security.”

“The Chinese Communist Party has expanded its economic espionage campaign to target U.S. government financial policies and trade secrets in an effort to undermine the United States and become the sole superpower,” said Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI Washington Field Office. “Today's indictment represents the FBI’s unwavering commitment to protect U.S. national security interests and U.S. jobs and bring to justice those who are willing to betray their country for personal gain.”

“This indictment sends a clear message that those who deliberately misuse sensitive Federal Reserve information for their own personal gain and lie about it to investigators will be held accountable for their actions,” said Special Agent in Charge John T. Perez of the FRB-OIG, Headquarters Operations.

According to the indictment, Rogers, a U.S. citizen with a Ph.D. in economics, worked as a Senior Adviser in FRB’s Division of International Finance of the FRB from 2010 until 2021, where he was entrusted with confidential FRB information. The confidential information that Rogers allegedly shared with his Chinese co-conspirators, who worked for the intelligence and security apparatus of China and who posed as graduate students at a PRC university, is economically valuable when secret.

China holds a large amount of U.S. foreign debt (approximately $816 billion as of October 2024). The data Rogers shared with his co-conspirators could allow China to manipulate the U.S. market, in a manner similar to insider trading. Gaining advance knowledge of U.S. economic policy, including advance knowledge of changes to the federal funds rate, could provide China with an advantage when selling or buying U.S. bonds or securities.

The indictment alleges that, from at least 2018, Rogers allegedly exploited his employment with the FRB by soliciting trade-secret information regarding proprietary economic data sets, deliberations about tariffs targeting China, briefing books for designated governors, and sensitive information about Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) deliberations and forthcoming announcements. He passed that information electronically to his personal email account, in violation of FRB policy, or printed it prior to traveling to China, in preparation for meetings with his co-conspirators.

Under the guise of teaching “classes,” Rogers met with his co-conspirators in hotel rooms in China where he conveyed sensitive, trade-secret information that belonged to the FRB and the FOMC. In 2023, Rogers was paid approximately $450,000 as a part-time professor at a Chinese university.

On Feb. 4, 2020, in response to questioning by the FRB-OIG, Rogers lied about his accessing and passage of sensitive information and his associations with his co-conspirators.

Rogers is charged with conspiracy to commit economic espionage and with making false statements.

The FBI Washington Field Office and FRB-OIG are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Paschall for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorneys Nicholas Hunter and Steve Marzen of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Section are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

            WASHINGTON –  John Harold Rogers, 63, of Vienna, Virginia, a former Senior Adviser for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (FRB), was arrested today on charges that he conspired to steal Federal Reserve trade secrets for the benefit of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

            In furtherance of the conspiracy, Rogers allegedly made false statements to the Federal Reserve Board Office of Inspector General, and those false statements had a material impact on its investigation.

            The indictment, unsealed today, was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr.,  Supervisory Official Devin DeBacker of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, FBI Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the Washington Field Office, and John T. Perez, Special Agent in Charge, Headquarters Operations, Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (FRB-CFPB OIG).

            “President Trump tasks us with protecting our fellow Americans from all enemies, foreign and domestic. As alleged in the indictment, this defendant leveraged his position within the Federal Reserve to pass sensitive financial information to the Chinese government, a designated foreign adversary,” said U.S. Attorney Martin. “Let this indictment serve as a warning to all who seek to betray or exploit the United States: law enforcement will find you and hold you accountable.”

            “As alleged, the defendant violated the trust placed in him by the Federal Reserve Bank by putting U.S. trade secrets in the hands of his PRC co-conspirators, knowing full well that such information would benefit the PRC Government and PRC instrumentalities,” said Devin DeBacker, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The Justice Department will continue to use all the tools at its disposal to disrupt economic espionage and protect our national security.”

            “The Chinese Communist Party has expanded its economic espionage campaign to target U.S. government financial policies and trade secrets in an effort to undermine the U.S. and become the sole superpower,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg. “Today's indictment represents the FBI's unwavering commitment to protect U.S. national security interests and U.S. jobs and to bring to justice those who are willing to betray their country for personal gain.”

            “This indictment sends a clear message that those who deliberately misuse sensitive Federal Reserve information for their own personal gain and lie about it to investigators will be held accountable for their actions,” said John T. Perez, Special Agent in Charge of Headquarters Operations FRB-CFPB OIG.

            According to the indictment, Rogers, a U.S. citizen with a Ph.D. in Economics, worked as a Senior Adviser in the Division of International Finance of the FRB from 2010 until 2021, where he was entrusted with confidential FRB information. The confidential information that Rogers allegedly shared with his Chinese co-conspirators, who worked for the intelligence and security apparatus of China and who posed as graduate students at a PRC university, is economically valuable when secret.

            China holds a large amount of U.S. foreign debt (approximately $816 billion as of October 2024). The data Rogers shared with his co-conspirators could allow China to manipulate the U.S. market, in a manner similar to insider trading. Gaining advance knowledge of U.S. economic policy, including advance knowledge of changes to the federal funds rate, could provide China with an advantage when selling or buying U.S. bonds or securities.

            The indictment alleges that from at least 2018, Rogers allegedly exploited his employment with the FRB by soliciting trade-secret information regarding proprietary economic data sets, deliberations about tariffs targeting China, briefing books for designated governors, and sensitive information about Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) deliberations and forthcoming announcements. He passed that information electronically to his personal email account, in violation of FRB policy, or printed it prior to traveling to China, in preparation for meetings with his co-conspirators.  Under the guise of teaching “classes,” Rogers met with his co-conspirators in hotel rooms in China where he conveyed sensitive, trade-secret information that belonged to the FRB and the FOMC.

            In 2023, Rogers was paid approximately $450,000 USD as a part-time professor at a Chinese university.

            On February 4, 2020, in response to questioning by the Office of the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve Board, Rogers lied about his accessing and passage of sensitive information and his associations with his co-conspirators.

            Rogers is charged with conspiracy to commit economic espionage and with making false statements. Conspiracy to commit economic espionage carries a maximum statutory penalty of 15 years in prison, and a maximum fine of $5 million. Making false statements carries a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison.

            This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Federal Reserve Board Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Paschall of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Trial Attorneys Nicholas Hunter and Stephen Marzen of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Section.

            A criminal indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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            WASHINGTON –Briyon Shuford, 30, of Washington D.C., was sentenced on January 31, 2025 to 161 months in prison for his participation in a daylight drive-by shooting – while he served as a DC Violence Interrupter -- that seriously injured four people. Shuford also was sentenced for his participation in a violent, armed group of drug dealers known as the “21st and Vietnam” crew. The crew distributed significant quantities of crack cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, PCP, and n-n-dimethylpentylone (“boot”) in the area of 21st Street and Maryland Ave. NE. 

           The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge Ibrar A. Mian of the Washington Division, Special Agent in Charge Troy Springer of the National Capital Region of the U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            Shuford, aka “Breezy,” pleaded guilty on October 31, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and aggravated assault while armed. In addition to the 161-month prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell ordered Shuford to serve five years of supervised release.

            According to court documents, the 21st and Vietnam crew used an apartment building on the 1900 block of I Street, NE, as a base of operations. The crew ran an open-air drug market around the building and sold narcotics outside on apartment grounds as well as on the first-floor hallway of the building. The sales of crack cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, PCP, and n-n-dimethylpentylone (“boot”) occurred on a near daily basis between at least June 2023 through May 2024 when the crew members were arrested.

            On the morning of April 19, 2024, Shuford arrived at the apartment building to meet co-defendant Trevon Palmer. The pair departed in Shuford’s own vehicle and then exchanged it for a stolen Infiniti sedan. Shuford drove the stolen Infiniti to the 1200 block of Mt. Olivet Road NE, Washington, D.C. The men – both armed with firearms –hunted for members of a rival crew. After finding what they believed to be appropriate targets, both Shuford and Palmer opened fire from the vehicle, shooting indiscriminately into the parking lot of the Circle 7 Food and Grocery Mart without regard for innocent bystanders or passing cars. Shuford almost lost control of the vehicle as he opened fire. Shuford and Palmer’s shots injured four individuals.

            Shuford was an equal participant in the 21st and Vietnam crew’s drug activities. He drove co-defendant Damien Jenkins to make a sizable drug sale during which Jenkins sold more than 80 grams of fentanyl. During that sale, Shuford remained nearby in his car, conducting another narcotics sale.

            On May 15, 2024, law enforcement arrested Shuford and searched his residence. Law enforcement officers recovered distribution quantities of suspected marijuana, packaging supplies, a Glock 30 firearm, and $12,637 in cash.

            This case was investigated by the DEA Washington Division Office, the FBI Washington Field Office, and the MPD. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Andrea Duvall and Solomon Eppel.

Briyon Shuford uploaded photos to the internet in 2023 of himself carrying firearms.

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WASHINGTON – Isjalon Jermiah Armstead, 22, of Washington D.C., pleaded guilty today in connection with an indictment charging numerous members of the Push Dat Shit (PDS) street gang with distributing large quantities of marijuana in the District of Columbia as well as using, carrying, and possessing firearms, including fully automatic machineguns, in furtherance of their drug dealing business.

            The plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., FBI Special Agent Sean T. Ryan of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Washington Field Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Armstead, aka “Smaut,” pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson to discharging a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense. Armstead faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. Judge Berman Jackson scheduled a sentencing hearing for May 7, 2025.

            As part of his plea, Armstead admitted to participating in a “rolling shootout” in the Washington Highlands neighborhood of Southeast Washington, D.C. on June 5, 2023.  According to court documents, Armstead and a fellow PDS gang member were driving a gray Nissan Altima in the area with marijuana that they intended to distribute when they observed a rival gang member.  The two men then chased the rival through a residential neighborhood while shooting from their vehicle as the rival returned fire. The gray Nissan Altima was disabled as a result of the shootout, and Armstead and his fellow PDS member fled on foot – discarding bags of marijuana and their firearms as they ran – before being apprehended by MPD officers a few blocks away.   

            Additional MPD officers responded to the scene and retraced the flight path, at which time they discovered two firearms discarded in a trash can alongside a residence. The firearms were identified as a Glock Model 26, 9mm semi-automatic handgun and an American Tactical Omni Hybrid semi-automatic AR-Pistol chambered in .300 caliber. These firearms matched shell casings recovered from the scene of the rolling shootout.  As part of his plea agreement, Armstead admitted to discharging the AR-Pistol during the rolling shootout.

            This plea is part of an ongoing joint investigation which has now resulted in 24 convictions and the seizure of two vehicles, 35 firearms, four machine guns, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, approximately 60 pounds of marijuana, 41 grams of cocaine base, dozens of oxycodone pills, and approximately $500,000 in cash.

            The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the ATF’s Washington Field Division, and the Metropolitan Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James B. Nelson and Justin F. Song and Paralegal Specialist Melissa Macechko.

Surveillance Footage Showing the Grey Nissan Altima (circled in red) and the Vehicle it was Pursuing During the Shootout on June 5, 2023.

Surveillance Footage Showing Armstead Fleeing From the Scene

Firearms Recovered from Armstead’s Flight Path

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WASHINGTON – Kelvin Sanker Jr., 42, of Washington D.C., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 65 months in federal prison for his participation in a major fentanyl and PCP trafficking ring that operated in Washington, D.C.

            The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division.

           Sanker pleaded guilty October 22, 2024, before U.S. District Court Judge Dabney L. Friedrich, to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute Phencyclidine (PCP). As part of the four-member conspiracy, between August 2023 and February 2024, Sanker assisted in the preparation, storage, and sale of approximately two kilograms of PCP to two undercover officers. In addition to the 65-month prison-term, Judge Friedrich ordered Sanker to serve five years of supervised release. 

          According to court documents, Sanker supplied the PCP for at least seven sales of the illegal drug to undercover officers. Sanker stored the PCP at the home he shared with his elderly mother in a residential area of Washington, D.C. He prepared it for sale by placing it in 8 or 16 oz. water bottles or juice bottles. He then distributed it to his co-conspirators for further sale.

            On March 6, 2024, FBI and DEA agents executed search warrants on five residences associated with the conspiracy including Sanker’s home where law enforcement found approximately 1 pound of marijuana, about $1,000 in cash, body armor, and a Glock gun box with two empty magazines and one 30-round extended magazine. In Sanker’s backyard, officers found trace amounts of PCP in a paint can, his patio littered with cans of starter fluid, a substance he used to cut pure PCP prior to distribution, plastic funnels used for pouring liquids, and empty water bottles — materials often used to prepare and store PCP for distribution. On Sanker’s phone, investigators found photographs of the paint can with the PCP residue, a Draco semi-automatic pistol similar to the one found in a co-defendant’s car, and other apparent firearms.

            Sanker was arrested on April 17, 2024, and has been held since.

          Co-conspirator Jamar Bennett, 45, was sentenced on January 15, 2025, to 121 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of PCP, and for being a felon in possession of a firearm.  Co-defendant Lamont M. Langston, 44, pleaded guilty December 19, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of PCP and for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Langston’s sentencing is pending. A third co-conspirator, Norman Morris, 44, is being held pending trial. 

           This investigation is part of Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking (HIDTA) Washington Area Group Initiative, which seeks to identify, disrupt, and dismantle drug trafficking organizations and money laundering organizations; reduce drug-related crime and violence; and identify and respond to emerging drug trends.

           The case is being investigated by FBI. It is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Stempel and Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter V. Roman of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section (VRTO).

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WASHINGTON – Darren Patterson, 31, a previously convicted felon from Washington D.C., was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 36 months in federal prison in connection with an April 2024 incident in which he attempted to flee from police in his car, struck several vehicles, drove his vehicle into a fence, and crashed into a tree. At his arrest, Patterson was found to be in possession of more than 70 grams of crack cocaine and in illegal possession of a stolen Glock 47 that had been outfitted to fire as a machine gun.

            The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            Patterson pleaded guilty on July 25, 2024, to unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon. In addition to the 36-month prison term, U.S. District Court Loren L. AliKhan ordered Patterson to serve three years of supervised release.

            According to court documents, on April 13, 2024, members of the MPD’s Fifth District Crime Suppression Team (CST) were patrolling in the 1000 block 16th Street, NE. The officers approached a sedan parked on the block and observed a black firearm in plain view in between the feet of Patterson, who was seated behind the wheel. Officers attempted to stop Patterson for further investigation, but Patterson attempted to flee. He reversed the car, causing it to strike another vehicle that was parked behind it. Officers again attempted to stop Patterson, at which point he drove forward, struck a second parked vehicle, and then drove onto the public sidewalk. Patterson then crashed the car into a private fence before driving the car into a tree, which finally stopped him. 

            During a search of the car, MPD officers recovered a stolen Glock 47 that had one round in the chamber, and 19 rounds in the magazine. The stolen firearm was outfitted with a “giggle switch” that allowed it to be operated as a fully automatic machine gun.

            In a search of Patterson, officers recovered crack cocaine – 13 grams of a white rock-like substance in his pocket, 58.5 grams of a white rock-like substance on the ground where Patterson was arrested – and $2,030 from his person.

            Patterson previously had been convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm (prior conviction); possession with intent to distribute marijuana; and attempted possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

            This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emory Cole, Meredith Mayer-Dempsey, and Jared English.

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WASHINGTON — Alonte Wilkinson, 31, of Washington D.C., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 57 months in federal prison for illegal possession of a firearm, a “ghost gun” that was recovered after he was stopped by police on suspicion of shoplifting from a CVS in Southwest Washington D.C.

            The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Wilkinson pleaded guilty on October 23, 2024, to unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon. In addition to the 57-month prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton ordered Wilkinson to serve three years of supervised release.

            According to court documents on January 17, 2024, about 5 p.m., MPD officers were conducting a retail theft operation at the CVS on the 1100 block of 4th Street SW. At 5:18 p.m., Wilkinson and another man entered the store. At 5:22 p.m., two CVS employees took note of Wilkinson and the other man exiting the store without paying for their items. The officers stopped the pair as they walked northbound on 4th Street SW.

            MPD officers searched both men. One of the officers recovered a firearm from Wilkinson’s right jacket pocket. Wilkinson claimed he had a license to carry a concealed weapon, but that he did not have the license in his possession. The firearm recovered from the Wilkinson was a Glock 27 .40 caliber pistol with one live round in the chamber, and 12 more rounds in the magazine. The serial number on the pistol was obliterated and rendered unreadable. A check of the D.C. Gun Registry database revealed that Wilkinson did not have a license to carry a firearm nor was the firearm in his possession registered to him, given the obliterated serial number.

            A criminal history search confirmed that Wilkinson was a felon, having been previously convicted for a firearms offense in 2019 for which he was sentenced to prison for more than one year.

            This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Emory Cole.

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           WASHINGTON –James T. Callahan, the International President of the International Union of Operating Engineers, pleaded guilty to knowingly filing false annual reports with the United States Department of Labor. These reports, called LM-30s, are required by law and must be truthful and complete. 

           The plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. for the District of Columbia.

           Callahan, of Lindenhurst, NY, appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes of the U.S. District Court for the District of the District of Columbia who accepted his plea of guilty.  Judge Reyes will determine any sentence for Callahan after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Judge Reyes scheduled sentencing for May 19, 2025. 

           The Operating Engineers represents nearly 400,000 heavy machinery operators on construction and industrial sites throughout the United States and Canada. From 2011 to the present, Callahan has served as General President of the Operating Engineers at its headquarters in Washington, D.C.

           In pleading guilty, Callahan admitted that he filed LM-30 reports that omitted his receipt of goods and services from an advertising firm that Callahan and the Union used to place ads. From 2015 through 2023, Callahan requested from the advertising firm and received free tickets to nearly 100 sports, concert, and theater events, as well as hospitality packages associated with those events. Those tickets and amenities were worth at least $315,000 and properly belonged to the Operating Engineers. Callahan did not reveal the existence of those tickets and did not obtain authorization from the Union’s Executive Board to use them. Callahan used many of those tickets personally and provided other tickets to members of his family and persons who were not members of the Operating Engineers. 

           As a condition of his plea, Callahan agreed to repay the Operating Engineers $315,000 for the tickets and resign as General President immediately.

          The United States Department of Labor (DOL), Office of Labor Management Standards and DOL-Office of Inspector General, are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Brian Kelly and Trial Attorney Vincent Falvo of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering section are prosecuting the case.

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WASHINGTON – Jaron Johnson, 23, of Washington D.C., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 60 months in federal prison in connection with selling a fatal dose of fentanyl in May 2022 to an American soldier. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge Ibrar A. Mian of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Washington Division, and Special Agent in Charge Jake Cameron of the Washington Field Office, Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division.

           Johnson pleaded guilty on August 17, 2024, to unlawful distribution of fentanyl. In addition to the five-year prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher R. Cooper ordered Johnson to serve three years of supervised release. 

           According to court documents, Johnson distributed what he knew to contain fentanyl to a U.S. Army private. Approximately 14 hours after the sale, the soldier died. The cause of death was determined to be a mixture of fentanyl, dextromethorphan (cough medicine), and chlorpheniramine (allergy medicine), with an enlarged heart as a contributing factor. However, toxicology results revealed standard doses of dextromethorphan and chlorpheniramine, which are not typically fatal. 

           When the soldier’s phone was searched, investigators found a text message conversation between the soldier and a phone number which was linked to Johnson. The messages show that the soldier discussed meeting with Johnson to purchase “blues” and “30s,” which is often slang for pills containing fentanyl. On May 23, 2022, Johnson sent a message to the soldier which included a picture of a hand holding a bag of light blue pills. The soldier died on May 26, 2022.

           On May 25, 2023, Johnson was arrested at an airport in Baltimore upon his return from California. A search of his checked luggage revealed he had been carrying approximately 33 pounds of suspected marijuana.

           This case was investigated by the DEA’s Washington Division and Army’s Criminal Investigation Division. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Solomon Eppel of the Violence Reduction and Traffic Offenses Section (VRTO), with valuable assistance provided by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alicia Long and Will Hart, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

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WASHINGTON – Brennan Holloman, 26, of Washington D.C., was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 51 months in prison for illegally possessing a loaded “ghost gun” despite being previously been convicted of a felony offense. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            Holloman pleaded guilty September 25, 2024, to one count of being a felon in possession of ammunition. In addition to the 51-month prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher R. Cooper ordered Holloman to serve two years of supervised release.

            According to court documents, on October 11, 2023, members of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Fifth District Crime Suppression team in a police cruiser were patrolling the 1500 block of Maryland Avenue Northeast in Washington, D.C. They observed a group standing at the top of the stairs in front of a building on the 1500 block of Maryland Avenue, Northeast. When the officers approached, they noticed a member of the group with a handgun in his pants. The officers recovered a loaded 9-millimeter black and grey Polymer80 privately made firearm. The Polymer80 was not marked with a serial number. It was loaded with one round in its chamber and seventeen rounds of 9-millimeter ammunition in its extended magazine.

            On December 15, 2023, Holloman was arrested for his October 11, 2023, possession of the ghost gun firearm and ammunition. As law enforcement made the arrest, they discovered Holloman was in possession of a Bryco .38 caliber firearm loaded with one round in its chamber and three rounds of ammunition in its magazine.         

            Holloman previously had been convicted of crimes punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, including a September 4, 2018, conviction in Superior Court. In that case, Holloman was sentenced to a term of 18 months in prison, with all but 9 months suspended. When Holloman possessed loaded firearms on October 11, 2023, and December 15, 2023, he knew that he previously had been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term longer than one year.

            This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul V. Courtney.

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WASHINGTON — Damian Johnson, 24, of Washington D.C., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 21 months in federal prison for illegal possession of a Glock 27 and 61 rounds of 45 caliber ammunition. Johnson was on supervised release when he posted numerous photographs of himself to Instagram with his guns that included several of himself wearing an ankle monitor while holding one of his weapons.

            The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., of the District of Columbia and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Johnson, aka “Damien Johnson,” pleaded guilty September 11, 2024, to unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon. The 21-month federal prison term will run consecutive to a 16-month sentence he received in Superior Court in October 2022 for carrying a pistol without a license. U.S. District Court Judge Jia M. Cobb also ordered Johnson to serve three years of supervised release.

            According to court documents, on December 26, 2023, shortly after 8 p.m., members of the MPD Robbery Suppression Unit executed a search warrant at Johnson’s home on the 300 block of Raleigh Street, SE. As officers entered the residence, an investigator observed Johnson attempting to open the apartment’s rear window. Another officer watched as Johnson tossed an object behind a bed inside a bedroom. The officers found a black Glock 27 .40 caliber pistol handgun behind the bed in plain view. During a search of the premises that followed, inside a closet, investigators discovered a drum magazine with 33 rounds of ammunition and an extended magazine with 28 rounds of ammunition.

            Prior to the search, officers had viewed Johnson’s Instagram account and had seen photos and video clips that showed eight different firearms inside Johnson’s apartment. One of the photos depicted Johnson wearing his court-ordered ankle GPS devise on his right ankle as he held one of his handguns.

            A federal Grand Jury indicted Johnson on January 17, 2024. U.S. Marshals arrested him on January 23, 2024, in Washington D.C.

            This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department and the ATF. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Cole for the District of Columbia.

The Glock 27 .40 caliber pistol and ammunition found in Johnson’s apartment. 

Drum magazine loaded with 33 rounds of 45 caliber ammunition.

Johnson (at left) and a friend display cash and four firearms – some with extended clips - in an Instagram post.

In an Instagram post, Johnson is pictured with a firearm with an extended clip.

In an Instagram post, Johnson and a pregnant woman are depicted holding firearms with extended clips, scopes/lights on firearms. Johnson is seen with court ordered GPS device on his right ankle.

24cr032

WASHINGTON – Idris Ahmad, 53, of Maryland, pleaded guilty in DC Superior Court yesterday to two counts of second-degree fraud and two counts of second-degree theft for submitting fraudulent timesheets to the D.C. Department of Health (DOH) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. for the District of Columbia, and District of Columbia Inspector General Daniel W. Lucas.

            The Honorable Robert R. Rigsby accepted Ahmad’s guilty plea and scheduled sentencing for February 11, 2025.

            According to court documents, Ahmad accepted a job in 2017 as a pest control supervisor with DOH while maintaining a second job with DoD as a pest controller on a night shift at the Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB). However, when he was later moved to a day shift at JBAB, he continued working for both employers despite his new shift substantially overlapping with his daily shift at DOH. Ahmad admitted in court that beginning in September of 2020, and continuing through June of 2021, he submitted timesheets to both employers for substantially identical hours and lied to both employers about this double-billing in order to keep collecting paychecks from each one.

            This case was investigated by the D.C. Office of the Inspector General, with assistance from the U.S. Department of Defense. The case was prosecuted by the late Special Assistant United States Attorney Bayly Leighton, Special Assistant United States Attorney Micah Bluming, and Assistant United States Attorneys Caroline Huether and Anna Forgie.

            WASHINGTON –Abubakr Banire, 27, of Washington D.C, was sentenced today to 111 months in prison for leading the “LA Dank DMV Crew,” a sophisticated drug trafficking conspiracy that was responsible for bringing hundreds of pounds of high-grade marijuana from California to the metropolitan area, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., and FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division.

            Banire, aka “Swave,” pleaded guilty on September 29, 2023, to conspiracy to distribute marijuana; unlawful possession of a machine gun; unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon; and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.

            In addition to the 111-month prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered Banire to serve three years of supervised release. As part of Banire’s guilty plea, he admitted to operating as a leader of the drug distribution conspiracy.

           As part of their distribution scheme, members of the crew relied heavily on mass marketing through three dedicated LA Dank websites, as well as social media platforms like Instagram where individual crew members would advertise the LA Dank brand and LA Dank branded marijuana for sale. Crew members also used rental properties to set up stash houses or points of sale that were used to conduct drug distribution operations for a short period of time before moving on to different locations. 

           The crew is known, and was found to possess numerous firearms, including semi-automatic and fully automatic machine guns, and devices used to convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic machine guns. Certain members of the crew also plead guilty to the possession of firearms in furtherance of their drug trafficking operations. In total, approximately 122 pounds of marijuana, 19 firearms, and 10 machine gun conversion devices were recovered.  Three of these nineteen firearms were discovered to be operational machine guns that had been modified with machinegun conversion devices. Seven of these machine gun conversion devices were found in an “LA Dank” branded bag. Two of these firearms were privately made AR-pistol style machine guns, sometimes referred to as “ghost guns.”

           Ledgers and receipts show that the crew trafficked well over 100 kilograms of marijuana into the DMV area for distribution.

           This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Department, Prince George’s County Police Department, and Anne Arundel County Police Department.

LA DANK DMV

Defendant

Sentence

            This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Justin F. Song and Meredith E. Mayer-Dempsey of the Federal Major Crimes Section and Thomas Strong of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

22cr83

WASHINGTON - On January 20, 2025, just minutes after Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, Edward R. Martin, Jr. was appointed and sworn in as Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. 

            “I want to thank President Donald Trump for trusting me to help him re-establish law and order in Washington, D.C.,” said U.S. Attorney Martin “It is the honor of my lifetime to accept his nomination as Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. I pledge to work as hard as he does for America, even though no one outworks him. I want to thank my wife and family for carrying me to this day, and I pray to the Lord Jesus Christ for the continued wisdom and courage I have always found in Him.”

            Martin was raised in rural New Jersey before attending high school in Jersey City. He graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a degree in English and a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies. After college, he served as a Thomas Watson Fellow in Indonesia and spent two years as a Rotary Scholar in Rome while studying at the Gregorian Pontifical University from which he earned a Bachelor of Philosophy.  

            Following his studies overseas, Martin moved to St. Louis, Missouri where he earned degrees in law and ethics from St. Louis University. Immediately after law school, Martin became the Human Rights Office Director for the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis where he supervised legal clinics for low-income St. Louisans. He served as a judicial clerk to Hon. Pasco M. Bowman, II of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and later worked as an associate with Bryan Cave LLP in their Washington D.C. and St. Louis offices.

            For the past two decades, Martin has maintained his own law practice while engaging in public service, including serving as Chairman of the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners, Chief of Staff to Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, and in senior positions at the Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund, including succeeding the late Phyllis Schlafly as President. Martin was Chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, member of the Republican National Committee, and previously ran for elected office in Missouri.

            Martin and his wife, an internal medicine physician specializing in geriatrics, have four children. 

Please find below a statement from U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. regarding an order from U.S. District Judge Mehta to amend the conditions of release in case number 1:22-cr-15 (USA v. RHODES, III et al)

"If a judge decided that Jim Biden, General Mark Milley, or another individual were forbidden to visit America’s capital—even after receiving a last-minute, preemptive pardon from the former President—I believe most Americans would object. The individuals referenced in our motion have had their sentences commuted – period, end of sentence.” 

-U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Edward R. Martin, Jr. 

Attached, please find the United States' motion to vacate supervised release and probation in this matter. 

WASHINGTON – Robbie Terrell Clark, 27, of Washington D.C., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 108 months in federal prison for his role in the September 2022 kidnapping and robbery of a pair of victims in Alexandria, Virginia. 

           The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., for the District of Columbia and FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division. 

           Clark pleaded guilty on May 21, 2024, before U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson, to one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping. In addition to the 108-month prison-term, Judge Berman Jackson ordered Clark to serve four years of supervised release. 

           According to court documents, Clark and his co-conspirators stalked their intended victims before kidnapping and robbing them at gunpoint inside their Alexandria, Virginia apartment building. On September 2, 2022, the co-conspirators planted a GPS tracking device on one of the victim’s Mercedes, which they used to monitor the victims’ locations.  

           On September 3, 2022, the victims attended a family gathering in Maryland. Seizing the opportunity to catch their victims unaware, Clark and his co-conspirators traveled from Washington, D.C. to Virginia in a stolen white Kia and to the victim’s home, where they laid in wait, armed with guns and carrying zip ties. Clark and his co-conspirators were wearing dark clothing, masks, and latex gloves.

           When the victims returned home later that night, Clark and his co-conspirators ambushed them in their parking garage at gunpoint, stealing two Audemars Piguet watches worth $120,000, another $63,500 worth of jewelry, other clothing, and the keys to a victim’s Mercedes.

           After robbing them, and pistol-whipping them with their guns, Clark and the co-conspirators led the victim couple to one of the victim’s apartments. Inside, the co-conspirators continued to hold the victims at gunpoint and ransacked the residence, demanding money. The co-conspirators were unable to locate any money before a security alarm was triggered and the co-conspirators fled, leaving behind several plastic zip ties. 

           Clark and his co-conspirators fled the apartment building shortly before 2 a.m. on September 4, 2022, in the stolen white Kia and the victims’ Mercedes and returned to the District. Law enforcement found the stolen Mercedes hours later in Maryland with the GPS tracking device still attached. Following a lengthy investigation, Clark was identified as a participant and arrested on August 16, 2023, in Washington, D.C. He has been held since.

           At the time of the incident, Clark had a felony conviction in Maryland for possessing a handgun in a vehicle. 

           Clark’s co-conspirator, Tyree McCombs, pleaded guilty on August 14, 2024, to conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery in connection with this offense as well as to a separate kidnapping committed two months later. McCombs is awaiting sentencing.

           This case was investigated by FBI Washington Field Office's Violent Crimes Task Force. The Fairfax County Police Department assisted with the investigation. The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meredith Mayer-Dempsey and Charles R. Jones for the District of Columbia.

22cr377

WASHINGTON – Wyatt Swan, 48, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty today to second-degree murder while armed for the 2024 murder of Teresa Francisco, 52, in Northeast Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            The Honorable Jason Park of the D.C. Superior Court scheduled sentencing for March 21, 2025.

            According to the government’s evidence, at approximately 1:00 p.m., on October 1, 2024, the defendant shot and killed his wife, Teresa Francisco, in and around their apartment complex in the 900 block of Eastern Avenue, Northeast. The defendant first shot his wife with a pistol in their shared apartment. When she ran for her life and hid in a nearby work van, the defendant pursued her and fired numerous shots into the van killing her.  The defendant then fled the scene evading police.

            The defendant was arrested on October 2, 2024, with the assistance of the Prince George's County Police Department. The defendant has remained in custody since his arrest.

            In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Edward Martin Jr. and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department and expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the Prince George's County Police Department.  This case was investigated and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Evans.

WASHINGTON – Aldemar Soto-Charry, 64, a highly ranked member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 78 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute thousands of kilos of cocaine for importation into the United States. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. for the District of Columbia, DEA Special Agent in Charge Eugene L. Crouch of the DEA Andean Division, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Veltri of the FBI’s Miami Field Office.

            Soto-Charry, aka “El Ingeniero” (“the Engineer”), pleaded guilty on October 11, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine for importation into the United States and aiding and abetting in the same. As part of the plea agreement, Soto-Charry acknowledged he was accountable for engaging in a conspiracy on behalf of the FARC to transport over 1,000 kilos of cocaine on a regular basis to a Mexican cartel, ultimately knowing that the cocaine would be transported into the United States.

            In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta ordered Soto-Charry to serve four years of supervised release.

            According to court documents, in 2018 the DEA commenced a targeted operation against large-scale drug traffickers in Colombia, including those connected to the FARC. In July 2018,  the DEA learned that Soto-Charry had claimed that FARC leadership was exploring opportunities to launder proceeds of drug sales, including through the purchase of real estate in Panama. The DEA enlisted confidential sources (CS) to meet with Soto-Charry and his co-conspirators.

            In October 2018, Soto-Charry was introduced to the CSs, one who posed as an individual with business connections in Panama and the other as a facilitator for large-scale drug transactions with the Mexican Gulf Cartel, which sought thousands of kilograms of cocaine for exportation abroad, including the United States. Soto-Charry detailed the FARC’s illicit business ventures, including laundering $10 million of cocaine proceeds through the construction of a medical clinic in Panama. Soto-Charry said he could organize drug deals using cocaine that was being processed at FARC-controlled cocaine laboratories in the jungles of Colombia. During a later meeting, Soto-Charry said the FARC could provide up to 2,000 kilograms of cocaine every few weeks.

            Between October 3, 2018, and July 25, 2019, the CSs regularly met with Soto-Charry and his co-conspirators to discuss the details of a potential deal for significant quantities of cocaine. During the meetings, Soto-Charry discussed FARC-related drug trafficking activities, cocaine pricing, cocaine purity, drug trafficking routes out of Colombia, and other logistical matters related to large-scale cocaine sales. As part of these discussions, Soto-Charry’s co-conspirators ultimately helped deliver a five-kilogram sample of cocaine and discussed how to transport it to the United States.

            Soto-Charry was arrested in Colombia on August 8, 2019, at the request of the United States, and extradited to the United States on August 8, 2024. In his plea agreement, he accepted responsibility for conspiring to distribute 1,000 kilograms or more of cocaine. He has been in custody since the date of his arrest in Colombia.

            His co-defendant Mauricio Mazabel-Soto was sentenced to 73 months in prison. Co-defendant Alfredo Molina-Cutiva received a sentence of 70 months in prison.

            This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI. The Colombian Attorney General’s Office, specifically the Dirección Especializada contra el Narcotráfico and Dirección de Asuntos Internacionales, also provided valuable assistance. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section’s Office of the Judicial Attaché in Bogotá, Colombia provided significant assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Soto-Charry. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Iris McCranie and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Ernesto J. Alvarado of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses (VRTO) Section. Valuable assistance was also provided by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin L. Rosenberg, who indicted and previously handled the case.

19cr233

WASHINGTON – Jose Angel Gomez, 42, formerly of Washington D.C., pleaded guilty to one count of first degree sexual abuse while armed, one count of first degree sexual abuse, one count of attempt first degree sexual abuse, and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon for three rapes between July and October 2018 involving three different victims who were strangers to him, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). The defendant faces a period of incarceration of between 25 ½ and 35 years as part of the plea agreement if accepted by the Honorable Todd Edelman of the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. Judge Edelman scheduled sentencing for April 4, 2025.

            The defendant admitted to the following facts related to each crime. On July 15, 2018, the 22-year-old victim returned home from a night out at approximately 2:40 AM. Shortly thereafter, she heard a knock at her basement door. Shortly after the victim opened the door, the defendant, Jose Gomez, grabbed and forced her to the ground. He brandished a knife and forcibly penetrated the victim’s vulva with his penis. Unable to obtain an erection, the defendant put his mouth on the victim’s vulva and ordered her to be quiet. The defendant cut the victim’s left cheek with the knife. Ultimately, the victim escaped to the safety of her home after kicking the defendant. She ran up the stairs where she called 911.

            On September 7, 2018, at approximately 11:40 PM, the defendant, Jose Gomez, followed his second victim, who was 37 years old at the time, as she walked from the Fort Totten Metro station to the nearby 7-11 at 5210 3rd Street, Northeast. He followed the victim into the 7-11. He then followed her after she left the 7-11. Once in the area of the 100 block of Farragut Street, Northeast, a wooded access road for Metro, the defendant grabbed the victim, pulled her into a wooded area, brandished a knife, and ordered her to take off her pants. With a knife to her throat and one hand around her neck, the defendant removed the victim’s pants and forcibly penetrated her vulva with his penis. The defendant told the victim, “Shut up, b*tch, and have sex with me!” During the rape, the victim’s phone rang numerous times. The victim told the defendant it was her brother who would come looking for her if she did not answer. The defendant jumped up and fled giving victim the opportunity to get away and flag down police. 

           On October 21, 2018, at approximately 6:30 AM, the defendant’s third victim was waiting at the corner of 7th and Longfellow Streets, Northwest for an Uber to work. It was early and the area was largely deserted. As the victim waited alone, the defendant, Jose Gomez, approached and asked her if she was ok and what she was doing. The victim told him she was waiting for an Uber. The defendant continued to speak to the victim, who told him to leave her alone. The defendant continued to linger in the area. As the victim continued to stand on the corner and saw on the Uber App that that her car was getting further away, she began to feel unsafe and started to walk back towards her apartment building. The defendant followed her.  The victim told him to stop. The defendant grabbed her by the throat and squeezed. The victim could not breath. The defendant began saying vulgar things. He dragged the victim into the alley, forced her to the ground, and removed her pants. He put his mouth on her vulva, penetrated her vulva with his finger and objects including a pen and keys, and penetrated her vulva with his penis. Every time the victim tried to move the defendant squeezed her neck. When the victim began to cry, the defendant told her to “shut the f*ck up.” Once the defendant ejaculated, he got up and while laughing stated, “I will see you around!” The defendant then fled on foot.

            These violent sexual assaults were solved with a combination of DNA and other evidence. Once identified, Gomez was arrested in Louisville, Kentucky on June 7, 2023 and transported by law enforcement to Washington, D.C. The defendant has been incarcerated ever since.

            This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department, including the Sexual Assault Unit and the Cold Case Unit of the Sexual Assault Unit, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marco Crocetti, Sharon Donovan, and Amy Zubrensky.

            This case was brought as part of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Cold Case Sexual Assault Initiative. In February 2018, the U.S. Attorney created the Cold Case Sexual Assault Initiative, designed to work with law enforcement partners to reinvestigate, solve and bring charges in previously-unsolved cases of sexual assault of adults and juveniles. The Cold Case Initiative works with the Metropolitan Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the United States Marshal’s Service, and state and local law enforcement agencies in the DMV area and nationwide. 

##

WASHINGTON – Husan Thurston, 32, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced to two years in prison and Alton Pernell, 28, also of Washington, D.C., was sentenced to two years in prison, with six months suspended, yesterday, for the burglary of a Gucci store in Northwest D.C. on September, 9, 2024, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            On January 22, 2025, the Honorable Judge Andrea Hertzfeld sentenced Husan Thurston to 24 months’ incarceration followed by three years of supervised release, and Alton Pernell to 24 months’ incarceration, with six months suspended, followed by three years of supervised release suspended and one year of supervised probation. Pernell and Thurston pleaded guilty on November 19, 2024, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to second-degree burglary.

            According to the government’s evidence, at approximately 11:00 p.m., on September 9, 2024, law enforcement officers observed a large group of individuals attempting to force entry into the Gucci store, located at the 1000 block of I Street, NW, while it was closed for business. Surveillance camera footage from inside of the Gucci store showed the defendants kicking the store’s doors and forcing their way inside. Both defendants were also captured on the store’s surveillance camera, running inside the store and grabbing handbags off of the display stands. One of the officers approached the front entrance of the store and then observed Thurston and Pernell inside. When officers entered the store and approached Pernell and Thurston, both men attempted to the flee but were prevented by the incoming officer. Both defendants fled to the rear of the store, where they were apprehended.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Martin and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also acknowledged the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hannah Skopicki and Elizabeth Ginsburg, who prosecuted the case. 

WASHINGTON – Avante Greene, 23, of Washington, D.C. was sentenced today to 60 months in prison for three brazen burglaries he committed at Lululemon stores in July 2024, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). 

           In addition to the prison term, Superior Court Judge Andrea Hertzfeld, also ordered one year of supervised probation. Greene pleaded guilty on October 31, 2024, to three counts of attempted second degree burglary. 

           According to the government’s evidence, on July 10, 2024, Avante Greene walked into the Lululemon store located on F Street, NW, carrying a large empty bag that he proceeded to fill with merchandise and fled in a nearby getaway car. Two days later, Greene brought two unidentified co-conspirators with him to the Lululemon store in Georgetown, again carrying empty bags that he proceeded to fill with merchandise and flee the store. Greene continued his spree on July 16, 2024, when he returned to the Lululemon store on F Street NW, with one unidentified co-conspirator. He repeated his practice of filling empty bags with merchandise and fleeing the store in a getaway car. In total, Greene stole well over $10,000 in merchandise.

           Greene was arrested on July 19, 2024, while driving the getaway vehicle. He has been in custody ever since.

           In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelyn Benton who investigated and prosecuted the case.

WASHINGTON – Idrissa Fall, 37, of Washington, D.C., has been found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder while armed and related charges stemming from an early morning shooting on July 18, 2021, in the 6100 block of 4th Street, NW, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Pamela A. Smith, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            The jury rendered a verdict on January 22, 2025, following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The jury unanimously convicted Fall of first-degree premeditated murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm. The Honorable Rainey Brandt scheduled sentencing for March 19, 2025.

            According to the government’s evidence, just before 1:30 a.m. on July 18, 2021, the victim, Dara Northern, walked out of her home and headed towards her best friend’s car for a night on the town. When Northern left her home, the defendant followed her out of her house and tried to stop her. Northern had recently broken up with the defendant and kicked him out of her home. As Northern got into the front seat of her friend’s waiting vehicle, the defendant started reaching for his waistband.  As Northern close the door, the defendant shot her in the head as she sat next to her best friend and fled the scene. Northern suffered one gunshot wound to her right eye. The victim was declared brain dead that same day and died as a result of her injuries. 

            Fall was arrested for Northern’s murder on August 2, 2021. He has been in custody ever since.

            In announcing the verdict, U.S. Attorney Martin and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the U.S. Marshals Service. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including; Investigative Analyst Zachary McMenamin; Victim/Witness Advocate Jennifer Allen and Latrice Washington-Williams; Paralegal Specialists Alyssa Schroeder and Sharon Newman; and Litigation Technology Specialist Sigourney Jackson.

            Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristian L. Hinson and Yasmin Emrani, who prosecuted the case.

WASHINGTON – Cesar De La O Rodriguez, 21, a citizen of El Salvador and a member of the violent transnational criminal street gang known as 18th Street, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 40 years in federal prison in connection with the 2021 stalking and killing of an individual he suspected was a rival international gang member in Rockville, Maryland, a slaying committed to increase his standing in the 18th Street gang.

           The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., for the District of Columbia, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office, Criminal and Cyber Division.

           Rodriguez, aka “Lunatico,” pleaded guilty on February 9, 2024, to conspiring to participate in a racketeer influenced and corrupt organization (RICO Conspiracy) and conspiracy to commit violent crime in aid of racketeering-murder. 

           Days after making his plea, on February 18, Rodriguez participated in the jail house stabbing of a fellow inmate at the Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Virginia. Rodriguez is facing additional charges in connection with the stabbing of attempted murder, malicious wounding resulting in significant physical impairment. 

           In addition to the 40-year prison sentence, Rodriguez also will face deportation hearings at the completion of his sentence.

           The 18th Street gang engages in a variety of criminal activities to include acts of assault, robbery, kidnapping, murder, and firearms trafficking in the District of Columbia and other jurisdictions, both within United States and in foreign countries. 18th Street members are required to commit acts of violence to further the interests of the gang. These violent acts are often directed against rival gang members, 18th Street members who have violated gang rules or have otherwise disrespected the gang, and people who are suspected of cooperating with law enforcement.

           According to court documents, on December 19, 2021, at the command of a senior member of 18th Street, Rodriguez and co-defendants followed the victim, Danis Alcides Salgado Mata, to Mata’s home on the 13700 block of Ashby Road in Rockville, Maryland. Rodriguez and his co-defendants believed that Mata was a member of the international gang MS-13.

           Upon arriving at Mata’s home, Rodriguez and another 18th Street member fired multiple gunshots at Mata, striking him multiple times in the torso. Mata eventually died from his injuries. During the shooting, Mata’s mother and stepfather were also struck by gunfire, but survived their injuries. Rodriguez and the other 18th Street gang member fled the scene and into the District of Columbia. 

           At the time of the shooting, the Rodriguez was a low-ranking member of the 18th Street gang and was ultimately promoted to a full-fledged member or “homeboy.”

           This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

           This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office, the Montgomery County Police Department, United States Marshals Service, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

           This investigation is part of the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking (HIDTA) Northern Virginia Gang Initiative, which seeks to identify, disrupt, and dismantle drug trafficking organizations and money laundering organizations; reduce drug-related crime and violence; and identify and respond to emerging drug trends.

           The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John Korba, Sitara Witanachchi, and William Hart.

23cr43

WASHINGTON – Niko Hall, 33, of Washington, DC, was sentenced today to 14 years in prison for second degree murder while armed for shooting and killing a man on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget Fitzpatrick and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). 

           Hall pleaded guilty on November 11, 2024, before Superior Court Judge Rainey Brandt who, in addition to the prison time, ordered five years of supervised release.

            Hall is the final defendant to be sentenced for the crime. Co-defendants Kyrie Wells and  Darquise Montgomery also pleaded guilty, on January 3, 2023, and July 6, 2023, respectively, to second degree murder while armed. Wells was sentenced to 14 years in prison; Montgomery was sentenced to 12 years of in prison.

           According to the government’s evidence, on Saturday, September 26, 2020, the three defendants murdered Anthony Lee, 25, by shooting him in the back as Mr. Lee walked away from them, apparently unaware of the danger he was in. At around 11:22 p.m., as Mr. Lee and a companion walked south on Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, Hall came out of the Mellon Market with his handgun drawn and joined the two other men. The three of them lined up across the sidewalk, after one of them cleared potential witnesses out of the way. The gunmen then opened fire on Mr. Lee and his companion from behind. There had been no interaction between the victims and their assailants before the shooting and the victims were unarmed. Hall was the first to begin shooting and the last to stop. He opened fire on a busy street, with multiple witnesses present, in front of busy Saturday commercial traffic.

            After Mr. Lee was shot, he fell to the ground one of the co-defendants, apparently acting in concert with the defendant and armed with an assault rifle, opened fire on Mr. Lee’s companion, firing at least 13 times.

            The defendant was arrested almost exactly a month later, on October 20, 2020, and has been in custody ever since. 

            In announcing the sentence, Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the efforts of those who handled the case at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists LaShone Samuels and Stephanie Siegerist and Victim/Witness Advocates Latrice Washington-Williams and Jenn Allen. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Keefer and Thomas Faulkner who prosecuted the case, and U.S. Attorney Peter V. Roman and Deputy Chief Laura Bach, who investigated and prosecuted the case.

WASHINGTON – Khali Ahmed Brown, 23, and Keion Michael Brown, 21, brothers from Washington D.C. and members of the violent Kennedy Street Crew (KDY), were sentenced today for their roles in a massive drug trafficking organization that operated open-air markets in Northwest Washington D.C.

            Khali Brown, aka rapper “Migo Lee,” pleaded guilty on September 20, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana, fentanyl, and oxycodone. He also pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense and to assault with a dangerous weapon. U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell today sentenced Khali Brown to 168 months in federal prison and ordered him to serve five years of supervised release.

            Keion Brown, pleaded guilty on September 20, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana and oxycodone and to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Judge Howell sentenced Keion Brown today to 147 months in federal prison and ordered him to serve five years of supervised release. 

           The sentences were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, DEA Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Washington Division, ATF Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives – Washington Field Division, and Special Agent in Charge Kareem Carter, of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Washington D.C. Field Office.

            According to court documents, KDY members operated open-air drug markets on an 11-block stretch of Kennedy Street in Northwest Washington, D.C., as well as surrounding streets. Like many drug trafficking organizations (DTOs), KDY armed itself with fire power to facilitate the drug trade and defend its territory from rival crews.

            As Migo Lee, Khali Brown served as the leading public face for the Kennedy Street Crew, functioning as a driver of escalating crew-related violence through beefs incited through his social media activity and music videos. The music videos put a finer point on the dangerousness he presents. Generally, in his videos, Khali Brown glorified violence, referring to himself by the tagline used among KDY crew members, “young and violent”, and/or characterizing himself as part of “Seal Team 6” or “ST6”, evoking militaristic tactics to eliminate the opposition. He is notorious for producing “diss” music videos taunting rival crew members, including those who have been murdered.

            In addition, by Khali Brown’s admission, he is accountable for trafficking no greater than 40 grams of fentanyl; no greater than 125 grams of oxycodone; and more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana, but no more than 2,000 kilos of marijuana. The converted drug weight for these quantities of narcotics, under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, was at least 1,000 kilograms but no greater than 3,000 kilograms. Khali Brown’s role as a drug trafficker for KDY is further documented in a review of his social media activity, along with his travel patterns and encounters with law enforcement. Khali Brown regularly utilized Instagram to advertise his narcotics, most predominantly pills, for sale. Independent of the ads, Khali Brown also regularly boasted on social media about the spoils of his drug trafficking.

            Early in the morning of October 10, 2022, Prince Georges County police were called for a report of a shooting at a stash house in Bowie, Maryland that Khali Brown maintained. After executing a search warrant, law enforcement recovered three firearms, as well as numerous live rounds of ammunition, firearms accessories, and large capacity magazines. Overall, throughout the residence, officers found and seized nearly $47,000 in cash. In addition, law enforcement seized 103 pounds of marijuana stored in hardshell luggage; 66.2 grams of crack cocaine; and an aggregate of 106.4 grams of oxycodone pills and 79.6 grams of methamphetamine pills.

            Khali Brown, his brothers Keion and Miasiah, as well as co-conspirator Jovan Williams, lived in the Bowie, MD, house. Despite the Browns’ mother denying to police that anyone had been injured during the shooting, responding officers noticed multiple bullet holes in the living room window, blood on the living room floor, spent shell casings, and a trail of blood near the front door.

            Khali Brown’s social media activity led law enforcement to confirm another of his stash houses, this one on the 1700 block of D Street, NE. On the morning of January 26, 2023, DEA and ATF agents conducted an interdiction at Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI), where Khali Brown and several other KDY members were stopped as they returned on a redeye flight from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) smuggling bulk quantities of marijuana. At BWI, Khali Brown and codefendant Herman Signou managed to evade law enforcement, but surveilling ATF agents  followed their vehicle to the residence on D Street NE. MPD officers watched as the two men entered the house with two pieces of luggage. Law enforcement compared open-source photos of the interior of the house to the Instagram stories posted by Khali Brown, and noticed distinct characteristics of the living room that were also present in his Instagram ads.

            When officers entered the D Street home, they found Khali Brown along with two of his brothers and three other co-defendants. Scattered throughout the basement of the stash house officers found 10 loaded firearms, two of which were machine guns. Four of those firearms were found in a suitcase resembling one officers had seen Khali Brown had been seen with as he entered the house earlier in the day. The suitcase also contained bulk quantities of marijuana, 351 fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills, and 50 oxycodone pills.

            Khali Brown’s DNA was included on two of the 10 firearms law enforcement recovered from the D Street residence: a Glock 17 9mm handgun with an obliterated serial number equipped with a machine gun conversion device that was used in the November 18, 2022, shooting at Jackson-Reed High School in Northwest D.C.; and a Glock 29 10 mm pistol equipped with an extended magazine. The DNA of Keion Brown, Khali’s brother and codefendant, was included on three firearms, including a Glock 45 9mm handgun equipped with an extended magazine. The Glock 4 was linked to two shootings on October 10, 2022, one in Takoma Park and another in Southeast Washington D.C.

            On June 26, 2023, Khali Brown was arrested with his co-defendants, Tristan “Greedy” Ware and Miasiah Brown, at a known stash house at Fifth and O Streets NW where both Khali and Miasiah Brown had been observed by law enforcement conducting narcotics transactions. Law enforcement was able to identify the apartment as being associated with Khali Brown based upon a music video he published shortly before his arrest. Agents found six loaded firearms concealed within the apartment, four of which were machine guns; a high-capacity drum magazine; nearly $3,000 in cash; and numerous bags containing about 3.5 kilograms of marijuana packaged for distribution.

            This investigation was conducted under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

            This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department, the DEA’s Washington Division, ATF’s Washington Field Division, with assistance from FBI’s Washington Field Office, and the IRS-Criminal Investigation Washington, D.C. Office.

            The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Kinskey and Sitara Witanachchi, of the of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. 

DEFENDANTS

NAME

AGE

CHARGES/SENTENCES

            Defendant Cameron Reid is from Falmouth, VA; all remaining defendants are from Washington, D.C.

Examples of Khali Brown’s public advertisements of narcotics, in the form of Instagram Stories.

Khali Brown also boasted of his drug trafficking earnings on social media, as seen in these postings to Instagram.

Khali Brown also regularly posted photographs of his drug inventory.

Khali Brown maintained a stash house in Bowie, Maryland. Secreted within the walls in his sleeping area was a separate hardshell suitcase, containing various drum magazines, a pistol conversion kit to convert a handgun into a short barrel rifle, additional opioids, and a digital scale.

Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Khali Brown’s stash house in Bowie, MD, and seized over 100 pounds of marijuana in hardshell suitcases.

The weapons, narcotics, and cash seized on Oct. 10, 2022, at Khali Brown’s stash house in Bowie, MD.

Law enforcement seized 10 firearms, including two machine guns, marijuana, and assorted narcotics on January 23, 2023, at Khali Brown’s stash house on the 1700 block of D Street, NE.

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