NORFOLK, Va. - A Portsmouth man was sentenced today to 11 years in prison for his role in a fentanyl and heroin distribution ring that led to multiple overdoses and at least one death.
According to court documents, Deshawn Jones, 29, dealt heroin and fentanyl as part of a Hampton Roads-based group that sold powerful narcotics to individuals from South Hampton Roads and the Outer Banks region of North Carolina. On Nov. 23, 2018, Jones sold a mixture of fentanyl and heroin to C.H., who used the drugs, overdosed, and died as a result. Jones continued to sell narcotics after learning of C.H.’s death, and when police executed a search warrant at his Portsmouth home in June 2019, they found fentanyl, heroin, and a loaded semi-automatic handgun with an extended magazine.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
Raj Parekh, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Raymond Villanueva, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C.; J. Phillip Webster, Chief of the Nags Head Police Department; and Kelvin L. Wright, Chief of the Chesapeake Police Department, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney, Jr.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Bosse and William B. Jackson prosecuted the case.
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 are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:19-cr-163.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
