Car Repair Shop Owner And His Son Admit To Drug Trafficking And Armed Commercial Burglaries

Baltimore, Maryland –Chad Paschall, age 28, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to distribute oxycodone and two counts of conspiring to commit bank burglary. His father, David Paschall, age 54, of Catonsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty yesterday to the drug and burglary conspiracies.

The guilty pleas were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Gary Tuggle of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Howard County Police Chief William McMahon; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; Anne Arundel County Police Chief Kevin Davis; Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Nicholas DiGiulio, Office of Investigations, Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services; Otis E. Harris, Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Coast Guard Investigative Service, Chesapeake Region; and Commissioner Anthony W. Batts of the Baltimore Police Department.

“This case dismantled an organization responsible for a wide range of criminal activity,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.

David Paschall operated Paschall’s Auto Body Shop, formerly located at 801 Desoto Road in Baltimore. According to their plea agreements, it was widely known that the car shop served as a marketplace for an assortment of illegal narcotics, including oxycodone, cocaine and heroin. David Paschall used more than five drug “brokers” to buy drugs almost every day at his shop which he would then either consume or sell for profit. As a leader in the drug conspiracy, he supervised others in the distribution of the drugs. In order to protect the drug conspiracy, David Paschall maintained many guns at the shop and sometimes carried a gun. It was reasonably foreseeable to David Paschall that this conspiracy distributed more than 59.70 grams of oxycodone, 200 grams of cocaine, and 80 grams of heroin from no later than 2010 to July 2013.

Chad Paschall was at the shop most every day, knew that the shop operated as a hub for drug sales and helped his father in brokering drug sales.

The defendants also admitted to committing commercial burglaries in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The defendants conspired to steal cash, money orders, stamps, silver bars, jewelry, cigarettes, lottery tickets, prescription drugs, food, beverages, safes, laptop computers, cell phones, electronics, vehicles and other valuable items from gas stations, convenience stores, banks, credit unions and other commercial establishments. The conspirators often stole or attempted to steal cash from ATMs.

The conspirators usually cut power lines, telephone lines, cables and other wires before entering a business. They used vise grips, sledgehammers, chopsaws, grinders and blow torches to enter the business, and then often waited – for several minutes or sometimes up to several hours – before ransacking the business of its valuable items. David Paschall admitted that he committed, or attempted to commit, dozens of commercial burglaries with one or more coconspirators. For example, David and Chad Paschall used a forklift at a salvage or junk yard located on Hawkins Point Road in Baltimore to pile several junk cars next to a rear upstairs balcony. They climbed up the cars and broke into the office off the balcony. They used the forklift to transport a safe from the office to the ground, where it was broken open and approximately $48,000 was stolen.

At their sentencing David and Chad Paschall face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine for the drug conspiracy, and five years in prison for the bank larceny conspiracy.

David Paschall has agreed to forfeit $500,000, his ownership interest in Paschall’s Auto Body Shop and his residence, three firearms and his vehicle. Chad Paschall has agreed to forfeit $250,000, his interest in his residence, four firearms and ammunition.

To date, a total of 10 defendants charged in the drug and burglary conspiracies have pleaded guilty to their participation in the criminal activities. Charges remain pending against six other defendants.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the DEA, Howard County Police Department, Baltimore County Police Department; Anne Arundel County Department, ATF, Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General; Coast Guard Investigative Service and Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein also praised the many local and state agencies in Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania for their assistance in the investigation.

Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys David I. Sharfstein and Andrea L. Smith, who are prosecuting this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.