District Man Found Guilty of Nationwide PCP Trafficking Conspiracy and Firearms Charges

             WASHINGTON – Lamont Alvester Johnson, 43, of Washington, D.C., has been found guilty after a jury trial of conspiring to traffic in large quantities of Phencyclidine (PCP), possessing with the intent to distribute large quantities of PCP, possessing a firearm after having previously been convicted of a felony, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, announced U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Shea, FBI Assistant Director Timothy Slater,  ATF Special Agent in Charge Ashan Benedict, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Peter Newsham, U.S. Park Police Chief Gregory Monahan, United States Chief Marshal Lamont Ruffin, and Prince George’s County Police Chief  Henry Stawinski. 

            Johnson was found guilty on February 27, 2020, following a trial in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia before the Honorable Thomas F. Hogan.  Sentencing is scheduled for June 11, 2020.  Johnson faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment in light of his extensive criminal record, including prior convictions for crimes of violence while armed and drug trafficking. 

            According to the government’s evidence, which included court-authorized wiretaps, search warrants, GPS trackers, and undercover purchases of narcotics, Johnson was the main supplier of PCP to a drug trafficking ring that was indicted in an eight-co-defendant, 55-count indictment.  Johnson was supplied gallon-quantities of PCP from West Coast suppliers, and he redistributed the PCP to other wholesale-level PCP suppliers in the District of Columbia.  The evidence established that Johnson used threats and intimidation in his PCP trafficking operation, including with an AR-15 assault rifle that was seized from him along with over a kilogram of PCP and related drug trafficking paraphernalia.  During the investigation, federal law enforcement officers seized approximately 2.5 kilograms of PCP; ¼ kilogram of heroin; ½ kilogram of cocaine; 50 grams of crack cocaine base; assorted drug trafficking paraphernalia; and firearms, including Johnson’s AR-15 assault rifle, laser scopes, ammunition, and high-capacity magazines. 

            In announcing the verdicts, U.S. Attorney Shea, FBI Assistant Director Timothy Slater,  ATF Special Agent in Charge Ashan Benedict, U.S. Park Police Chief Gregory Monahan,  United States Chief Marshal Lamont Ruffin, Chief Peter Newsham of the Metropolitan Police Department, and Prince George’s County Police Chief  Henry Stawinski commended the work of the many dedicated people who worked tireless hours on the case, including Special Agents from the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the ATF’s Washington Field Division, Deputy U.S. Marshals, and officers with the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Park Police. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including Assistant U.S. Attorney George Eliopoulos and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nihar Mohanty, who prosecuted the case, as well as Paralegals Rommel Pachoca and Katie Thomas and Legal Assistants Emma Atlas and Kate Abrey.