Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Defendant Admitted that He Was Accountable for 1.2 to 3.9 Kilos of Fentanyl, as well as Cocaine, Boot, and PCP
WASHINGTON – Damien Jenkins, 35, of the District of Columbia, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 151 months in federal prison for his role in a drug trafficking organization known as the “21st and Vietnam” crew.
The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro, FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, DEA Special Agent in Charge Ibrar A. Mian of the Drug Enforcement Administration Washington Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Jenkins pleaded guilty on Feb. 11, 2025, to conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, as well as cocaine, N-n-dimethylpentalone, also known as “boot,” and phencyclidine, aka PCP. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell ordered Jenkins to serve five years of supervised release.
According to court documents, Jenkins is a member of the “21st and Vietnam” crew, an organization that distributed narcotics – primarily fentanyl and cocaine – in an open-air market and apartment building in the area of the 1900 block of I Street, NE.
Among other things, the crew took over a vacant apartment for use as a base of operations and used it to process, prepare, and package the drugs for redistribution. Sales occurred at the front of the building, in the apartment, and in a parking lot at the rear of the apartment.
Law enforcement identified Jenkins as being involved in the manufacture, packaging, and sale of drugs. Jenkins has admitted that he was accountable for 1.2 to 3.9 kilos of fentanyl, as well as cocaine, boot, and PCP.
Additionally, on March 7, 2024, several crew members engaged in a verbal altercation with an individual. Co-defendant Charles Manson went into the vacant apartment and Jenkins handed Manson a ski mask. Manson, who was in possession of a firearm, put on the mask. Manson
then went outside of 1919 I Street, NE, and opened fire in the direction of the indivIdual.
On May 15, 2024, about 6 a.m., law enforcement executed a search warrant at Jenkins’s residence. Law enforcement recovered an AK pattern firearm, a Ruger .380 caliber handgun, a Sterling Arms .22 caliber handgun, weapon magazines, dozens of rounds of ammunition, and $3,342 in cash.
This case was investigated by the MPD, the DEA Washington Division, and FBI Washington Field Offce. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrea Duvall and Solomon Eppel.
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