Armed Carjacking Added to a 55-Count Superseding Indictment Charging Members of the Violent KDY Drug Crew
Friday, February 23, 2024
Kennedy Street Crew Operated Open-Air Drug Markets in Northwest Washington D.C.
WASHINGTON – A superseding indictment adds 22 new charges – including armed carjacking, armed robberies, and weapons offenses involving machineguns –against the alleged core members of the violent Kennedy Street drug trafficking organization. The superseding indictment also names a 17th co-defendant, Adebayo Adediji Green, 29, of Hyattsville, MD., who was arrested on February 22, 2024.
The superseding indictment charges defendants Keion Michael Brown, 20, and Jovan “Chewy” Williams, 19, in a November 17, 2023, spree of armed carjackings and robberies; defendants Tristan Ware and Keion Brown with illegal possession of a machine gun in furtherance of drug trafficking; defendants Khali Brown, Aaron Mercer, Angel Suncar, and David Penn with illegal possession of firearms; defendants Brown, Ware, and David Penn with possession with intent to deliver marijuana; defendants Penn, Aaron Mercer, and Angel Suncar with possession with intent to deliver cocaine; and defendant Adebayo Adediji Green with conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and marijuana, and illegal possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Defendants Warren Fields and Antonio Reginald Bailey previously pleaded guilty. A chart of the remaining defendants and their charges can be found below.
According to the original indictment, KDY members operated open-air drug markets in the 100-1200 blocks of Kennedy Street in Northwest, as well as surrounding streets. The organization’s members are charged with conspiring to distribute fentanyl, oxycodone, cocaine base, and marijuana, and using firearms, including fully automatic weapons, to enforce and protect the crew’s territory, including through intimidation and acts of violence.
The original indictment further alleges that KDY crew members conspired to establish shell companies to launder their illegal proceeds. During the investigation, law enforcement seized more than 40 firearms (including eight suspected machineguns).
The sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
This case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department, the DEA’s Washington Division, ATF’s Washington Field Division, with assistance from FBI’s Washington Field Office, and the IRS-Criminal Investigation Washington, D.C. Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Kinskey and Sitara Witanachchi, of the of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Valuable assistance was provided by former Special Assistant United States Attorney Brian Lynch.