FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, December 16, 2021

District Man Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for PCP Trafficking Conspiracy and Firearms Charges

Defendant Used Threats and Intimidation to Carry Out Enterprise

            WASHINGTON – Lamont Johnson, 45, of Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to 35 years in prison on federal charges of conspiring to traffic in large quantities of Phencyclidine (PCP) and related narcotics and firearms offenses.

            Johnson was found guilty by a jury in February 2020, following a trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, of the conspiracy charge, as well as charges of possessing with the intent to distribute large quantities of PCP, possessing a firearm after having previously been convicted of a felony, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. He was sentenced on Dec. 15, 2021, by the Honorable Thomas F. Hogan. 

            The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office Criminal Division,  Charlie J. Patterson, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Pamela A. Smith, Chief of the U.S. Park Police, Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD),  U.S. Marshal Lamont Ruffin, and Malik Aziz, Chief of the Prince George’s County, Maryland Police.  

            Johnson was arrested in October 2017 following an extensive law enforcement investigation into violence and drug trafficking in areas of Southeast Washington, including the 16th Street, W Street, and Good Hope Road area. He has been in custody ever since.

            According to the government’s evidence, which included court-authorized wiretaps, search warrants, GPS trackers, and undercover purchases of narcotics, Johnson was the main supplier of PCP to a drug trafficking ring that was indicted in an eight-co-defendant, 55-count indictment.  Johnson was supplied gallon-quantities of PCP from West Coast suppliers, and he redistributed the PCP to other wholesale-level PCP suppliers in the District of Columbia.  The evidence established that Johnson used threats and intimidation in his PCP trafficking operation, including with an AR-15 assault rifle that was seized from him along with over a kilogram of PCP and related drug trafficking paraphernalia. 

            During the investigation, federal law enforcement officers seized approximately 2.5 kilograms of PCP; ¼ kilogram of heroin; ½ kilogram of cocaine; 50 grams of crack cocaine base; assorted drug trafficking paraphernalia; and firearms, including Johnson’s AR-15 assault rifle, laser scopes, ammunition, and high-capacity magazines. 

            This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

            This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the ATF’s Washington Field Division, the U.S. Park Police, the Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Prince George’s County Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney George Eliopoulos and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nihar Mohanty, with assistance from Paralegal Specialists Rommel Pachoca, Katie Thomas and Catherine O’Neal, and Legal Assistants Emma Atlas and Kate Abrey.