OPSEC10: Baltimore man sentenced for conspiracy to import heroin

http://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/baltimore-man-sentenced-for-conspiracy-to-import-heroin

BALTIMORE (WBFF) - A Baltimore man was sentenced on Tuesday to seven years in federal prison for attempting to import heroin to two city addresses.

A U.S. District judge sentenced 36-year-old Adedeji Ajala following a six-day trial.

Based on evidence presented in the trial, Ajala was associated with two international parcels that contained heroin, one sent in July 2014 to an address on Whittier Avenue and another sent in August 2014 to an address on Old Frederick Road. Investigators intercepted both packages after obtaining federal warrants and found they contained a total of more than 382 grams of heroin, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office of Baltimore City.

Undercover postal inspectors placed calls to Ajala on Aug. 12 and Aug. 14, 2014, to arrange for a controlled delivery of the second package. During those calls, Ajala portrayed himself as a person named "Bobby Mills," according to the release. Ajala provided fraudulent identity documents, including a driver's license and social security card, with that same fake name to a co-conspirator so that that individual could pick up the package, according to trial testimony.

Ajala drove the co-conspirator to the Carroll Station Post Office on Aug. 15 to attempt to pick up the package. Authorities arrested the individual as soon as he went into the post office, and soon after approached Ajala, who was sitting outside in his car. Ajala sped off, striking two unmarked police cars with officers inside, and then fled on foot down an alley, after which he was eventually apprehended.

Investigators recovered several cell phones from Ajala's abandoned vehicle, witnesses said, and one of the phones contained tracking numbers for both packages and showed the two incoming calls in which the undercover postal inspectors had spoken with Ajala about that package.

Following his release from prison, Ajala will be required to serve four years of supervised release.

The U.S. Attorney's Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations unit, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the DEA worked together on the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew C. Sullivan and Christopher J. Romano prosecuted the case.


Comments


[1 Points] None:

[deleted]