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Press Release

Member of Gregory Butler Drug Trafficking Organization Pleads Guilty to Federal Charge of Possession of a Firearm During a Drug Trafficking Crime

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland
Admits Operating a Stash House for the Organization

Greenbelt, Maryland – Davon Owens, age 36, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty on November 17, 2020, to possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.  Owens was a member of the Gregory Butler Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) which distributed heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and crack cocaine in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.   

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Jennifer C. Boone of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, from at least November 2018 through April 3, 2019, Owens participated in the DTO, taking custody of narcotics that he would then store in his house in Baltimore.  When the DTO needed to re-supply street-level drug distributors, Owens would provide the narcotics to a supervisor in the DTO.

As detailed in his plea agreement, law enforcement intercepted communications where Owens discussed the storage and movement of large quantities of heroin.  On April 3, 2019, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Owens’ residence in the 700 block of Denison Street in Baltimore, and recovered a duffle bag containing over one kilogram of heroin, and a loaded 9mm pistol.  Owens admitted that he possessed the heroin with the intent to distribute and that he possessed the firearm during and in relation to the conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

Owens faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum of life in prison.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.  U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm has scheduled sentencing for April 1, 2021, at 2:00 p.m.

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.

United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the FBI, the DEA, the Montgomery County and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Hur commended the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the City of Rockville Police Department; the Baltimore County, Howard County, and Montgomery County Police Departments; the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office; the Maryland State Police; the West Virginia State Police; the Virginia State Police; the Warren County (VA) Sheriff’s Department; the Winchester (VA) and Front Royal (VA) Police Departments; and the Frederick County and Howard County State’s Attorney’s Offices.  Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew DellaBetta and Michael Goldsticker, who are prosecuting the case.

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Contact

Marcia Murphy
(410) 209-4854

Updated November 19, 2020

Topics
Drug Trafficking
Opioids