Jury Convicts Leader of Hampton Roads Heroin Trafficking Organization

NORFOLK, Va. – A federal jury convicted a Portsmouth man today for his role in leading a heroin trafficking conspiracy that distributed in excess of 100 kilograms of heroin over a 10-year period in Hampton Roads from 2007 through 2017.

“Those who choose to pump poison into our communities will be held accountable for their actions,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Let this case be an example of how this will end for those who choose to destroy families by trafficking opioids. I want to thank our trial team and our investigative partners for their extraordinary effort and dedication to this important case. This is a textbook example of the power of true federal, state, and local collaboration.”

According to court documents and testimony, the FBI began investigating Leroy Perdue, 45, of Portsmouth, and his associates after the arrests of other heroin dealers he supplied, including the Alonzo Outten Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) in 2015, and the 2016 arrest of Carlos Brown, who was ultimately convicted in EDVA and sentenced to 30 years for Distribution of Heroin Resulting in Death. Over the last decade more than a dozen drug dealers in Hampton Roads were supplied wholesale quantities of heroin by Perdue.

“My team and I have been working hand-in-hand with our federal and local partners to interrupt the supply of heroin and fentanyl into Hampton Roads,” said Attorney General Mark R. Herring. “Operation Hardest Hit and other multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional operations like it are putting dangerous suppliers behind bars while we continue to educate the public on the dangers of opioids and pursue a comprehensive community based response to this crisis. I appreciate all the hard work and cooperation of local, state, and federal law enforcement and prosecutors who brought this defendant and his co-conspirators to justice.”

On June 22, 2017, the FBI, in partnership with the Chesapeake Police Department’s Vice and Narcotics Unit and the Virginia State Police, executed an interdiction operation and arrest, which resulted in the recovery of over 800 grams of heroin with a street value in excess of $50,000.

“Today’s successful conviction was a team effort by our investigative partners and prosecutors who worked side by side to systematically crush this dangerous distribution network and protect Hampton Roads from predators who profit from poisoning our community,” said Martin Culbreth, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Division. “The heroin epidemic is one of the most devastating threats to the community we have seen in a generation and the FBI is dedicated holding traffickers and criminal organizations accountable for their part in proliferating this crisis.”

Less than two months later, in the early morning hours of Aug. 14, 2017, over 300 law enforcement agents made arrests and executed nearly a dozen search warrants in Virginia, Georgia, and New York. The takedown was the result of a multi-year, multi-jurisdictional, and multi-agency Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation designated Operation Hardest Hit.

“Through Operation Hardest Hit, HSI and its law enforcement partners struck back against one of Hampton Roads’ most notorious heroin dealers and his associates,” said Michael K. Lamonea, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of HSI Norfolk. “Heroin is a deadly drug that has absolutely no place in our communities.”

At trial, the United States presented video evidence of Perdue selling heroin during an undercover operation. On the day of Perdue’s arrest, the FBI also recovered a notebook next to Perdue’s bed with lyrics to a song in which he proclaimed himself the “Dogfood King” – dogfood being a common coded reference to heroin.

Perdue was convicted of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute heroin, interstate travel in aid of racketeering, and possession with intent to distribute heroin. He faces a mandatory penalty of life in prison when sentenced on September 19. Twelve of his co-conspirators have already been sentenced to a combined total of over 173 years’ in prison. See table below for additional details.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Mark R. Herring, Attorney General of Virginia, Martin Culbreth, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Division, Michael K. Lamonea, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of HSI Norfolk, and Kelvin L. Wright, Chief of Chesapeake Police, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson accepted the verdict.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Tidewater Violent Crime Task Force, in partnership with HSI’s Norfolk Field Office, Chesapeake Police Department, and the Virginia State Police. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney John F. Butler and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Bosse and William B. Jackson prosecuted the case.

The case was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), Operation Hardest Hit. The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:17-cr-116.