Maryland Man Pleads Guilty to Participating in a Drug Trafficking Conspiracy and Possessing a Firearm

FBI Recovered Crack, Cocaine, PCP, Fentanyl, and Firearms During

            WASHINGTON –Brian Jenkins, 44, of Brentwood, Md., pled guilty today to trafficking in crack and powder cocaine as part of a nearly year-long narcotics conspiracy in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

            Jenkins pled guilty before the Honorable Richard J. Leon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base and a detectable amount of cocaine. The charge requires a mandatory minimum sentence of five years of incarceration and up to 40 years imprisonment. Judge Leon scheduled Jenkins’ sentencing for July 18, 2019.

            As part of his plea agreement, Jenkins accepted responsibility for a firearm possessed in his Maryland residence at the time that he was arrested.

            Jenkins was arrested on the morning of March 15, 2018 and his residence was searched pursuant to a warrant. At Jenkins’ residence, the FBI recovered cocaine, $12,900 in U.S. currency, a loaded handgun with multiple magazines, and a crack cocaine manufacturing kit to include two digital scales, a strainer, baking soda, and a Pyrex dish.

            Four others have pled guilty to charges in the case. They include Everette Reel, 46, of Upper Marlboro, Md; Jamal Curtis, 41, of Washington, D.C., Derek Holmes, 54, of Washington, D.C., and Russell Harrison, 40, of Temple Hills, Md. Reel, Curtis, and Holmes are now serving sentences and Harrison is to be sentenced on May 1, 2019. Harrison faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years of incarceration and up to life imprisonment for his possession of multiple firearms in furtherance of his drug trafficking as part of the conspiracy.

            The case remains pending against another defendant, Darnell Catlett, 46, of Upper Marlboro, Md.

            This case is part of an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF specializes in the investigation and prosecution of drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and related criminal enterprises.

            In announcing the pleas, U.S. Attorney Liu and Assistant Director in Charge McNamara commended the work of those who investigated the case. They cited the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including Paralegal Specialists Candace Battle and Teesha Tobias, Legal Assistant Emma Atlas, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Macchiaroli and Kevin Rosenberg of the Violent Crime and Narcotics Section, who conducted the underlying investigation, indicted the case, and prosecuted the defendants.