Three Men Sentenced to Lengthy Prison Terms For Conspiring to Distribute Heroin In the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area

-Defendants Conspired to Bring Shipments Here from New York-

     WASHINGTON – Three men were sentenced today to lengthy prison terms for conspiring to distribute large quantities of heroin in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. They were arrested in 2012, following a nine-month investigation by law enforcement.

     The sentences were announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., Karl C. Colder, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

     Thaxton Young, Jr., 46, of Columbia, Md., Gerry Duane Burnett, 42, of Washington, D.C., and Jesse McLester Young, Jr., 42, of Mount Vernon, N.Y., were found guilty in May 2013 following a trial in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia. In addition to the conspiracy charge, Burnett was found guilty of possession with intent to distribute heroin and marijuana. The Honorable Beryl A. Howell sentenced the defendants today.

     Thaxton Young, Jr. was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison. Burnett was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison, and Jesse Young, Jr. was sentenced to 11 years and three months of incarceration. Each defendant also was ordered to pay an $89,000 forfeiture judgment for the gross receipts from the heroin distributed in the conspiracy.

     Thaxton Young, Jr., Burnett and Jesse Young, Jr. were indicted in 2012, following an investigation by the DEA into people suspected of acting as wholesale distributors of heroin in the metropolitan area.  The investigation determined that from May 2011 through March 2012, the defendants and others maintained a drug trafficking organization that supplied distribution amounts of heroin to dealers in the District of Columbia and Maryland.

     The investigation revealed that Thaxton Young, Jr. and another conspirator obtained large quantities of heroin from his cousin and co-defendant Jesse Young, Jr. in the Bronx, New York area, which they transported back to the Washington, D.C. area for redistribution to wholesale traffickers, including Burnett.

     Investigators seized over 170 grams of heroin during the investigation, along with over $7,000 in cash, along with jewelry valued at over $25,000.

     In announcing the sentences, U.S. Attorney Machen, Special Agent in Charge Colder, and Chief Lanier commended the work of the agents, officers and investigators from the DEA and MPD who investigated the case. They also thanked the Maryland State Police, which provided assistance. They cited the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including Paralegal Specialists Jeremy Stoller and Regan Gibson, and Litigation Support Specialist Joshua Ellen.

     Finally, they acknowledged the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Opher Shweiki, Steven B. Wasserman and Magdalena Acevedo, of the Violent Crime and Narcotics Trafficking Section, who prosecuted the case.