WASHINGTON - Deandre Kelly, 31, formerly of Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to 15 years in prison on federal narcotics charges, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and Mark A. Magaw, Chief of the Prince George’s County, Md. Police Department.
Kelly pled guilty in July 2009 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to charges filed in two separate cases. In one, he pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute PCP. In the other, he pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine base. While awaiting sentencing and other hearings in that case, Kelly disappeared. A warrant was issued for his arrest in September 2009 after he failed to appear for a court hearing.
Kelly remained a fugitive until Jan. 22, 2011, when he was arrested in Garrett County, Md., after leading police on a high-speed car chase. During that chase, he lost control of a vehicle several times, striking a guardrail and a bridge pillar, before ultimately becoming disabled in a snow embankment. Law enforcement discovered marijuana and a loaded firearm in the vehicle, and Kelly was arrested. However, the following evening, he made an armed escape from the Garrett County Detention Center, aided by associates waiting for him in the parking lot.
The U.S. Marshals Service arrested Kelly on May 13, 2011 in Lynchburg, Va., and he has been in custody ever since. The actions in Maryland remain under investigation.
The 15-year sentence, imposed Nov. 14, 2013 by the Honorable Emmet G. Sullivan, was made public by the Court this week. The sentence was for the earlier drug offenses, involving crimes in the District of Columbia and Maryland. One case involved a search of Kelly’s residence in February 2009 that led to the recovery of PCP, a revolver and ammunition. As part of his plea, Kelly admitted to possessing the narcotics, firearm and ammunition, and to conspiring with others to distribute PCP. The second case, transferred to the District of Columbia from Maryland, involved the recovery of crack cocaine from Kelly’s vehicle following a traffic stop in Prince George’s County in July 2008.
Kelly has three previous convictions involving narcotics, as well as a conviction for conspiracy to commit robbery.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen, Chief Lanier and Chief Magaw commended the work of those who investigated the drug offenses for the MPD and Prince George’s County Police Department. They also expressed appreciation to the U.S. Marshals Service for its work in locating and arresting the defendant, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland for its work on the case. Finally, they acknowledged the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen A. Connolly and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Costello, Jr., who investigated and prosecuted the case.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
