Six Members of Drug Ring Plead Guilty to Federal Narcotics and Money Laundering Charges
Members Operated in Southeast Washington and at Other Locations
| U.S. Attorney’s Office September 14, 2012 |
WASHINGTON—Six men have pled guilty to federal narcotics and money laundering charges stemming from their roles in a ring that distributed significant amounts of cocaine in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), announced today.
The defendants include Robert Savoy, 40, of Fort Washington, Md.; James Brown, 42, of Washington, D.C.; Terrence Hudson, 38, of Oxon Hill, Md.; Jerome Johnson, 41, of Capitol Heights, Md.; Nathan Robinson, 39, of Washington, D.C., and Eric Scurry, 40, also of Oxon Hill, Md. All pled guilty to charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The men were arrested during a long-term investigation by the FBI/MPD Safe Streets Task Force into a criminal organization supplying street-level dealers with significant quantities of powder cocaine and crack cocaine for distribution in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. In particular, members of this organization distributed powder cocaine and crack cocaine in the 4200 and 4300 blocks of Fourth Street SE. They also distributed narcotics in other areas of Washington, D.C., and Maryland.
During the course of the investigation, agents and detectives seized multiple handguns, more than a kilogram of powder cocaine, large quantities of crack cocaine, and over $40,000 in cash. Savoy, Hudson, and Robinson were arrested on Nov. 10, 2010; Johnson and Scurry were arrested on Dec. 17, 2010; and Brown was arrested on Sept. 15, 2011. All six defendants were detained following their arrests and have remained in custody since that time.
Johnson and Brown pled guilty on Sept. 7, 2012. Savoy, Hudson, and Scurry pled guilty on Sept. 10, 2012, and Robinson pled guilty on Sept. 12, 2012. All of the defendants entered the pleas before the Honorable Chief Judge Royce C. Lamberth. The plea agreements are subject to the Court’s approval.
According to evidence presented at the plea hearings, Johnson supplied Savoy with kilograms of cocaine. In turn, Savoy supplied large quantities of cocaine to Brown and Hudson, among others. Savoy also supplied large quantities of cocaine base to other individuals throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
Brown and Hudson supplied these narcotics to others. At times, Hudson coordinated his narcotics sales with Scurry and Robinson, who both distributed large quantities of cocaine base in the 4200 and 4300 blocks of Fourth Street SE, among other places. Robinson would also coordinate his narcotics sales with Scurry.
If the plea agreements are accepted by the court, Savoy faces a prison term of 17 years, Scurry faces a prison term of 12 years, Hudson faces a prison term of 10 years, Johnson and Robinson face prison terms of eight years, and Brown faces a prison term of seven years. Hudson is to be sentenced on Nov. 15, 2012. Savoy, Scurry, Robinson, and Brown are to be sentenced on Nov. 16, 2012, and Johnson is to be sentenced on Dec. 7, 2012.
This prosecution grew out of a long-term FBI/MPD alliance called the Safe Streets Task Force that targets violent drug trafficking gangs in the District of Columbia. The Safe Streets Initiative is funded in part by the Baltimore Washington High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area as well as the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. The Safe Streets Initiative involves more than 150 Safe Streets Task Forces around the country that combat street gangs by combining federal, state, and local police resources.
In announcing the pleas, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director McJunkin, and Chief Lanier commended the actions of the special agents from the FBI’s Washington Field Office, as well as the actions of other MPD members of the Safe Streets Task Force. They also commended the support provided by U.S. Attorney’s Office employees, including Paralegals Regan Gibson and Candace Battle; Legal Assistants Candace Cisco and Diane Brashears; Criminal Intelligence Analyst Frank Morgan, and Information Technology Specialists Kimberly Smith, Paul Howell, and William Henderson.
Finally, they praised the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Arvind Lal and Opher Shweiki, who investigated and prosecuted the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Zia Faruqui, who assisted with the money laundering and asset forfeiture issues, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez and former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Les Gross, who assisted in the investigation.