Three Maryland Men Indicted in Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl in Baltimore Trafficked from Sinaloa and Tijuana Drug Cartels

Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has indicted Nevone McCrimmon, age 47, of Edgewood, Maryland; William Elijah, age 51; and Terrance Mobley, age 50, both of Baltimore, Maryland, on the federal charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.  The indictment was returned on October 24, 2018, and unsealed on October 30, 2018.  McCrimmon was arrested today and is scheduled to have his initial appearance at 3:45 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Don A. Hibbert of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Interim Commissioner Gary Tuggle of the Baltimore Police Department; Baltimore City Sheriff John Anderson; Chief Terrence B. Sheridan of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Acting Special Agent in Charge Cardell T. Morant of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore.

“Fentanyl is one of the most lethal threats facing Maryland right now.  As little as two milligrams of fentanyl can be a lethal dose, and the 20 kilograms of fentanyl seized in this case to date is enough to kill 10 million people—more than one and a half times the population of Maryland,” said Maryland U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur.  “We are working with our partners to attack the sources of supply, as well as the street dealers who are committing the most violence in our neighborhoods.”

According to the indictment and other court documents, the defendants are allegedly high-ranking members of a Baltimore-based drug trafficking organization that imports and distributes heroin, fentanyl, and other drugs in the Baltimore metropolitan area.  The defendants allegedly obtained drugs from a Miami-based drug trafficking organization with ties to the Sinaloa and Tijuana Mexican drug cartels.  The Department of Justice has declared the Sinaloa drug cartel as one of its top five priority transnational organized crime targets.  The cartel uses drug trafficking and other criminal activities to obtain power, influence, and money, while protecting its activities through a pattern of violence and corruption.  To combat this threat, the Department of Justice has formed a Transnational Organized Crime Task Force to coordinate and optimize the Department’s efforts to dismantle this group and other priority targets..

Beginning in the Fall of 2017, the defendants regularly met with a courier from Miami to deliver large sums of cash.  In exchange for the money, the Miami-based drug trafficking organization would arrange for kilogram-quantities of narcotics to be delivered to the defendants.  According to court documents, the narcotics would be delivered by the cartel to a contact in Ventura County, California, and then shipped to Maryland for delivery to the defendants.

To date, law enforcement has seized 20 kilograms of fentanyl and over $500,000 in U.S. currency. 

If convicted, the defendants each face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.  Defendants Elijah and Mobley previously had their initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Baltimore and are detained pending trial. 

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. 

United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the DEA, the Baltimore Police Department, the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office, the Baltimore County Police Department; and HSI-Baltimore for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys John W. Sippel, Jr. and Lauren E. Perry, who are prosecuting this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.

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