10-18-2024 4:49am

LOCAL GETS 11

Pikesville Man Sentenced To 11 Years In Federal Prison As Part Of A Large Scale Drug Conspiracy Operating In And Around Baltimore

Drug conspiracy involved kilograms of fentanyl and cocaine and over $1,346,000 in drug proceeds

U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher sentenced Ronald White, age 56, of Pikesville, Maryland, to eleven years in federal prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, for a drug conspiracy and distribution charges related to his supplying cocaine, crack cocaine and fentanyl to drug traffickers operating in West and Northwest Baltimore as well as money laundering charges.

The sentence was announced by Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration and Commissioner Richard Worley of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, in April 2020, investigators from the Drug Enforcement Administration began a drug investigation in West and Northwest Baltimore. During the investigation, White was identified as a source of supply to members of the Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) and was believed to also be involved in the laundering of drug proceeds obtained from the distribution of controlled dangerous substances. Specifically, in March and April 2021, White engaged in at least seven large cash transactions. These transactions included over $1,346,000 in drug proceeds that were to be laundered.

As part of his guilty plea, White admitted that he maintained stash houses to store his drug proceeds totaling approximately $549,000. From one of the stash locations investigators recovered equipment used to package narcotics including: a hydraulic kilogram press, digital scales, and a powder commonly used as a cutting agent for heroin and fentanyl. Investigators also recovered the following narcotics: 242 grams of cocaine base, 43 grams of cocaine, 3724 grams of cocaine separately packaged, and 3975 grams of fentanyl. White’s vehicle was searched and officers recovered an additional 150 grams of fentanyl.

White admitted that it was reasonably foreseeable and within the scope of the conspiracy that he or other members of the conspiracy would distribute at least 1200 grams but less than 4 kilograms grams of fentanyl, as well as quantities of cocaine, cocaine base, and heroin in furtherance of the conspiracy.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.

The specific mission of the Baltimore Strike Force is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle violent drug trafficking, money laundering, and transnational criminal organizations to reduce drug-related and/or gang violence in the Baltimore metropolitan and surrounding areas.

The Baltimore Strike Force is comprised of agents and officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, the United States Marshals Service, the United States Secret Service, United States Postal Inspection Service, the Maryland State Police, the Baltimore Police Department, the Baltimore Sheriff’s Office, the Baltimore County Police Department, the Maryland Transportation Authority, and the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. The prosecution is being led by the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland.

U.S. Attorney Barron commended the DEA and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys LaRai Everett, James O’Donohue and Stanton Lawyer who are prosecuting the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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