District Man Pleads Guilty to Narcotics Trafficking and Possession of a Machinegun

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 13, 2023

Defendant Faces Ten Year Mandatory Minimum Sentence

            WASHINGTON – Daniel Jahleel Thomas, also known as “dandue,” 22, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty today, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to conspiring to distribute marijuana and oxycodone, illegal possession of a machinegun, and carrying a handgun during or in relation to drug trafficking, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs, of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Robert J. Contee, III, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell scheduled sentencing for August 4, 2023. The crimes to which Thomas pleaded guilty carry a combined mandatory-minimum of ten years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison.

            According to court documents, Thomas advertised on Instagram that he had marijuana for sale. On February 25, 2022, MPD officers learned of the advertisement and responded to the location – outside the Fort Chaplin Park Apartments – knowing that Thomas had a court-ordered stay-away from the complex as a condition of a prior gun arrest. The officers saw Thomas standing outside the apartments and approached him. When Thomas saw the officers, he jumped into the back seat of a vehicle operated by a ride share service. As the officers attempted to speak with Thomas about the stay-away order, he resisted and pulled away. During the subsequent struggle, officers discovered a firearm in Thomas’ waistband. The firearm was later determined to be a Glock, Model 19, 9mm handgun loaded with one round in the chamber and 14 rounds in the magazine. The handgun was also fitted with a “giggle switch,” which made the handgun capable of fully automatic fire. 

            Thomas was arrested that afternoon outside the Fort Chaplin Park Apartments in the 4200 block of Blaine Street, Northeast. During a search of the duffel bag he was carrying, officers found four large bags of marijuana, each containing approximately one-pound, as well as 81 pills, each of which contained 30mg of oxycodone.  

            At the time of his arrest, Thomas was under investigation by the FBI for his role in a variety of federal offenses related to firearms and narcotic trafficking. Coordination between the FBI and MPD led to an indictment charging Thomas and two of his co-conspirators with numerous federal offenses. 

            In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Graves, Special Agent in Charge Jacobs, and Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case, including FBI and MPD. Finally, they cited the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys James B. Nelson and Meredith Mayer-Dempsey and Paralegal Specialist Genevieve de Guzman.