Isjalon Jermiah Armstead, a 22-year-old resident of the District of Columbia, received a sentence of 120 months in prison for his involvement in a shootout that occurred in June 2023. The incident took place in a residential area of Southeast Washington.
The sentencing was made public by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., along with FBI Special Agent Sean Ryan from the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, ATF Special Agent Anthony Spotswood from the Washington Field Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Armstead, also known as "Smaut," was affiliated with the Push Dat Shit street crew. He entered a guilty plea on January 30, 2025, to charges related to discharging a firearm during a drug trafficking offense. Besides his prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Amy B. Jackson mandated four years of supervised release for Armstead.
Court documents reveal that on June 5, 2023, Armstead possessed half a pound of marijuana intended for sale. Around 3:15 p.m., while seated in the front passenger seat of a Nissan Altima near Third and Atlantic Streets SE, he engaged in gunfire with another vehicle's driver. During this exchange, Armstead fired a .300 caliber AR-Pistol before the Altima crashed through a fence into an adjacent grassy area.
Despite sustaining bullet wounds to his wrist and chest during the altercation, Armstead fled on foot alongside the vehicle's driver through wooded terrain between Atlantic Street and Valley Avenue SE. They discarded the AR-Pistol en route before being apprehended by responding MPD officers at Fourth Street and Valley Avenue SE shortly after.
Further court documentation indicates that PDS gang maintained control over territory spanning Wheeler Road SE blocks 3300 – 3500 and operated an open-air drug market nearby since August 2018 when they allied with Jugg Gang—a neighboring street gang—to collectively carry firearms for protection against rival factions.
This case forms part of an extensive joint investigation resulting thus far in securing convictions against twenty-six individuals while seizing two vehicles; thirty-five firearms including four machine guns; more than one thousand rounds ammunition; approximately sixty pounds marijuana; forty-one grams cocaine base; dozens oxycodone pills plus around $500k cash.
The investigation was conducted by multiple agencies including FBI’s Cross Border Task Force within its Washington Field Office alongside ATF’s respective division as well as Metropolitan Police Department efforts coordinated under prosecution led by Assistant U.S Attorney James B Nelson.
