Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
WASHINGTON – Craig Eastman, 21, of Washington D.C., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 165 months in federal prison for participating in a massive fentanyl trafficking conspiracy that distributed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills from Southern California to destinations throughout the United States, including the District. Eastman was one of more than two dozen co-defendants arrested over the course of 2023 in D.C., Virginia, Maryland, San Diego, and Los Angeles and charged in the conspiracy.
The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., DEA Special Agent in Charge Ibrar A. Mian of the Washington Division, Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Eastman pleaded guilty on July 25, 2024, to conspiring to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. In addition to the 165-month prison term, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered Eastman to serve five years of supervised release.
The impetus for this investigation was the overdose death of Diamond Lynch, a young mother in Southeast D.C. In addition to investigating and prosecuting the death-resulting case,[1] law enforcement followed the evidence and uncovered a vast network of traffickers who transported fentanyl from Mexico to Los Angeles to the District of Columbia. Since then, investigators have seized more than 450,000 fentanyl pills, 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl powder, and 30 firearms.
According to court documents, Eastman entered into the conspiracy after he was introduced to a Los Angeles-based drug trafficker, who was a distributor of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills. Eastman traveled to Southern California to purchase the fake oxycodone from the L.A. supplier and returned to the District with the drugs. Eastman and his co-conspirators employed two primary methods to transport the pills to the District: they smuggled them in luggage or carry-on items on airline flights, or they shipped the pills utilizing the U.S. Postal Service and commercial mail carriers
After transporting the fentanyl-laced pills back to the District of Columbia, Eastman redistributed them for profit, primarily in collaboration with a co-defendant. Two redistributors of the pills were his siblings, Larry and Justice Eastman, who later were convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. Ms. Lynch was a customer of Larry and Justice Eastman.
Craig Eastman not only knew of Ms. Lynch’s overdose death, but proceeded to attempt to sell the batch of pills that included Ms. Lynch’s fatal dose at a discount rather than simply destroy them and incur the financial loss. Specifically, the month after Ms. Lynch’s overdose death, Craig Eastman marketed the same bulk supply of pills that included Ms. Lynch’s fatal dose. Craig Eastman informed a prospective customer that he “caught a bad batch of some 30s,” and asked the customer to “see if [he] got somebody to sell em to[,] I got endless.”
Craig Eastman also had been found in residences containing firearms on multiple occasions. On September 1, 2021, law enforcement searched Craig Eastman’s residence in the 2300 block of Raynolds Place SE. Agents found him inside his bedroom, along with 204 fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills, multiple firearms and accompanying magazines and ammunition, as well as several thousand dollars in cash. On December 4, 2021, officers searched Eastman’s residence and recovered four firearms, about $1,700 in cash, and distribution quantities of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills. In his bedroom specifically, officers found a Glock 17 equipped with a high-capacity magazine and a machine gun conversion device, along with fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills. When Craig Eastman was arrested along with co-defendant Charles Taylor on March 22, 2023, in a stash house in the District, officers recovered seven firearms (including one machine gun), assorted ammunition, more than a dozen pounds of marijuana, and a pill bottle containing fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills.
|
DEFENDANT |
AGE |
LOCATION |
CHARGES/SENTENCE |
|
Hector David Valdez, aka “Curl” |
27 |
Santa Fe Springs, California |
Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl; Conspiracy to commit international money laundering. |
|
Craig Eastman |
21 |
Washington, D.C. | Sentenced on February 6, 2025, to 165 months for conspiracy to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl. |
| Charles Jeffrey Taylor |
21 |
Washington, D.C. | Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. |
| Raymond Nava, Jr. |
20 |
Bell Gardens, California |
Sentenced September 17, 2024, to 14 years for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. |
| Ulises Aldaz |
28 |
Bell Gardens, California |
Sentenced June 28, 2024, to 95 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. |
| Max Alexander Carias Torres |
27 |
Bell Gardens, California |
Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl; Conspiracy to commit international money laundering |
| Teron Deandre McNeil, aka “Wild Boy” |
34 |
Washington, D.C. | Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. |
|
Marvin Anthony Bussie, aka “Money Marr” |
22 |
Washington, D.C. | Sentenced June 28, 2024, to 120 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. |
| Marcus Orlando Brown |
29 |
Washington, D.C. | Sentenced October 3, 2024, to 108 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl. |
| Columbian Thomas, aka “Cruddy Murda” |
27 |
Washington, D.C. | Sentenced October 22, 2024, to 160 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. |
| Wayne Rodell Carr-Maiden |
30 |
Washington, D.C. | Sentenced April 29, 2024, to 45 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl. |
|
Andre Malik Edmond, aka “Draco” |
23 |
Temple Hills, Maryland | Sentenced July 22, 2024, to 130 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. |
|
Treyveon James Johnson, aka “Treyski” |
20 |
Alexandria, Virginia | Sentenced September 5, 2024, to 108 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl. |
|
Karon Olufemi Blalock, aka “Fat Bags” |
30 |
Alexandria, Virginia | Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. |
|
Ronte Ricardo Greene, aka “Cardiddy” |
29 |
Washington, D.C. | Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. |
| Melvin Edward Allen, Jr., aka “21” |
39 |
Washington, D.C. | Pleaded guilty on December 18, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl. |
|
Darius Quincy Hodges, aka “Brick” |
34 |
Glen Allen, Virginia | Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. |
|
Lamin Sesay, aka “Rock Star” |
28 |
Alexandria, Virginia | Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. |
| Paul Alejandro Felix |
26 |
Glendale, California |
Sentenced November 12, 2024, to 164 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. |
|
Omar Arana, aka “Frogs” |
27 |
Cudahy, California |
Pleaded guilty January 3, 2025, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. |
| Edgar Balderas, Jr., aka “Nano” |
27 |
San Diego, California |
Pleaded guilty December 19, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. |
| Raul Pacheco Ramirez |
30 |
Long Beach, California |
Sentenced November 26, 2024, to 95 months for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. |
| Giovani Alejandro Briones |
30 |
Victorville, California | Pleaded guilty October 24, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. |
| Alfredo Rodriguez Gonzalez |
26 |
Rosarito, Mexico |
Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl; Conspiracy to commit international money laundering. |
These prosecutions followed a joint investigation by the DEA Washington Division and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division, in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The investigation had additional support from the DEA’s Los Angeles, San Diego, and Riverside Field Divisions, the FBI Washington Field Office, and the Charles County, Maryland, Sheriff’s Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Central and Southern Districts of California, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the District of Maryland.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Kinskey, Solomon S. Eppel, and Iris McCranie of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses (VRTO) Section.