Source: Office of United States Attorneys
WASHINGTON – Ronald Hinkle, 46, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 72 months in prison for possessing multiple illegal firearms as he distributed cocaine, cocaine base, and heroin in the District. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the FBI Washington Field Office, DEA Special Agent in Charge Jarod A. Forget of the Washington Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Hinkle, aka “Ronald Archer,” pleaded guilty on August 2, 2023, before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. In sentencing Hinkle, Judge Kollar-Kotelly also ordered five years of supervised release and community service.
According to court documents, law enforcement officers arrested Hinkle on February 21, 2018, on the 2500 block of R Street SE after Hinkle entered a rental car. The agents recovered 84 grams of crack cocaine in plastic bags from Hinkle’s waistband and an additional eight grams of cocaine and 30 grams of heroin from the car. Agents obtained a warrant and searched Hinkle’s nearby one-bedroom apartment where they recovered several kilograms of cocaine, hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of contraband, and three firearms. The firearms, which included two pistols – a Ruger and a Glock – were later tested at FBI forensic labs and found to be linked to Hinkle through his DNA.
This investigation was 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.
This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office, the DEA, and MPD’s Violent Crime Suppression Division. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cameron Tepfer and Thomas Strong.