New York Man Sentenced to Over 10 Years in Federal Prison for Conspiracy and Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis today sentenced Valfonso Dewitt, a/k/a “Valentino” and “Val,” age 72, of Bronx, New York, to 121 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and for two counts of using his cellular telephone to facilitate a felony drug offense. 

The sentence was announced by Erek L. Barron, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration - Washington Division; Special Agent in Charge Wayne Jacobs of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Washington Field Office Criminal Division; and Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department.

According to the evidence presented at his four-day trial, from January 2019 through at least September 2019, Dewitt conspired with co-defendant James Isaac Gaston, Gaston’s wife Jacqueline Shelton Gaston, and others to distribute fentanyl.  The evidence proved that in September 2019, Dewitt distributed nearly half a kilogram of pure fentanyl—enough to kill almost 250,000 people—to James Gaston just outside Memphis, Tennessee.  Approximately 14 hours later, law enforcement seized the fentanyl during a traffic stop on Gaston’s car shortly after Gaston drove over the I-495 bridge from Virginia into Prince George’s County, Maryland.  The jury acquitted Dewitt on three counts of using his cellular telephone to facilitate a felony drug offense.

James Isaac Gaston, age 74, of Lanham, Maryland, was sentenced to six years in federal prison for his role in the drug distribution conspiracy.  Co-defendant Jacqueline Shelton Gaston, age 52, also of Lanham, Maryland, also pleaded guilty to her role in the conspiracy and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23, 2023.

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

U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the DEA, the FBI, and the Montgomery County Police Department for their work in the investigation and thanked the Prince George’s County Police Department and the Maryland State Police for their assistance.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Jeffrey J. Izant and Geonard F. Butler II, who prosecuted the case and recognized Intelligence Research Specialist Angelina Thompson and Paralegal Specialists Andrew Branigan, Mark Phares, and Derek Harwerth for their assistance.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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