Cocaine and Crack Dealer Involved in Shootout Sentenced to Prison

NORFOLK, Va. – A Portsmouth man was sentenced today to 16 years in prison for his role in trafficking five kilograms or more of cocaine and 280 grams or more of crack cocaine and for possessing with intent to distribute at least 28 grams of crack cocaine.

“Charles Algernon Boomer III has a criminal history that includes nearly 100 criminal charges, and more than 40 total convictions,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “In this case, Boomer trafficked wholesale amounts of powder and crack cocaine from two Portsmouth drug premises, one across the street from an elementary school. Boomer is precisely the type of defendant that has the full attention of this office and our investigative partners as we work together to rid our streets of criminals who pose a great danger to the safety of our communities.”

According to court documents, Boomer, 44, a 13-time felon with three drug-trafficking convictions, operated a drug premises across the street from an elementary school. That residence was the subject of a botched armed robbery in which Boomer's co-conspirator, who was providing security, exchanged gunfire with the would-be robbers and sustained gunshot wounds. Police caught Boomer trying to escape in a car while sitting on wholesale amounts of crack cocaine, powder cocaine, and marijuana, bundles of cash, and a gun loaded with an extended magazine was on the floorboard next to him. When Boomer exited the car, the arresting officer observed more cash falling out of Boomer's pant legs and recovered from Boomer's pockets even more cash and another magazine matching the gun.

Officers searched Boomer’s residence and observed more crack, powder cocaine, and marijuana in the kitchen sitting next to drug packaging and manufacturing materials, a bag of crack sitting in the driveway, and another bag of crack sitting in the backseat of a vehicle parked in front of the residence. They also recovered dozens of spent shell casings that were scattered throughout the inside and outside of the residence and observed bullet holes in the walls, furniture, and even the refrigerator.

The case was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), Operation Promotional Deceit. The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Jesse R. Fong, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division; and Angela Greene, Chief of Portsmouth Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson. Assistant U.S. Attorney William B. Jackson prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:19-cr-191.