Member of Heroin Conspiracy Sentenced to Over 10 Years in Prison

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz, sentenced Recco F. Beaufort, age 52, of Gwynn Oak, Maryland, today to 121 months in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Special Agent in Charge Ava Cooper-Davis of the Drug Enforcement Administration-Washington Field Division; and Major Michael Kundrat, Senior Commander of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police.

According to Beaufort’s guilty plea, as part of a long term investigation being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) into a heroin drug trafficking organization, calls were intercepted between Christian Gettis and Recco F. Beaufort which revealed that Beaufort was the main conduit between Gettis and Charles C. “Billy” Guy, who was Gettis’ source of supply of heroin.

For example, based on a sequence of calls occurred between Gettis, Guy, and Beaufort on July 14, 2010, it was revealed that Beaufort was acting as a courier, delivering heroin to Gettis on behalf of Guy, and collecting money from Gettis to be delivered to Guy in New York via bus. In one intercepted call between Gettis and Beaufort, Beaufort asks Gettis to “tape it up, I don’t even want to know what it is. Tape it up, duct tape it and we go from there ok?” In this call, Beaufort is asking Gettis to secure the money that Beaufort is to collect from Gettis to deliver to Guy so as to avoid any suspicion that Beaufort had tampered with it.

The drug trafficking organization used a location which was less than 1,000 feet from a charter school in Baltimore City to process and distribute heroin. Beaufort admitted that he conspired with Gettis, Guy and others, to distribute between one and three kilograms of heroin.

Gettis, age 39, of Baltimore, and Guy, age 43, of Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, both pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy and are scheduled to be sentenced on February 17, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., respectively. Gettis and Guy remain detained.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, DEA, and the Maryland Transportation Authority Police for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Ayn B. Ducao and Christopher J. Romano, who prosecuted this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.