Source: US FBI
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A federal jury yesterday convicted four defendants charged in a 127-count superseding indictment relating to a Hampton Roads-based drug trafficking conspiracy.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, federal law enforcement opened an investigation into large-scale drug trafficking activity at Lux Auto in Newport News around June 2021. The conspirators used the business as a base of operations, storing illegal drugs in vehicles throughout the parking lot of Lux Auto. Members of the organization were frequently armed with handguns and other weapons. Between August 2020 and August 2023 at major airports in the Mid-Atlantic area, law enforcement seized almost $400,000 in drug proceeds and 1,000 pounds of marijuana and contraband relating to the conspiracy.
Members of the organization had varying roles and responsibilities. The leaders engaged with the sources of supply outside Virginia and arranged for the purchase of large loads of marijuana. They also instructed other members of the organization to arrange for couriers to fly to the sources of supply, deliver money to them, and return to Virginia with the marijuana. The leaders further arranged for midlevel members to receive marijuana from couriers and distribute it to customers or have subordinate dealers sell the marijuana.
Cortez Dayshawn Bumphus, aka Co, 32, was convicted of continuing criminal enterprise; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of marijuana; conspiracy to launder money; being a felon in possession of a firearm; possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime; maintaining a drug-involved premises; and use of a communication facility in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Dilquon Best, aka Quon or DQ, 33, was convicted of continuing criminal enterprise; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of marijuana; conspiracy to launder money; and use of a communication facility in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Earvin Jerome Moore, aka Gooch, 45, was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of marijuana; maintaining a drug-involved premises; and use of a communication facility in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Kamani Johnson, aka Komma or Kazz, 30, was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of marijuana, and interstate travel in aid of racketeering.
Thirty-one other defendants pled guilty previously.
A federal district court judge will determine any sentences after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Dominique Evans, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; and Jason S. Miyares, Attorney General of Virginia, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen accepted the verdict.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric M. Hurt and Luke Bresnahan are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Alyson C. Yates, an Assistant Attorney General with the Virginia Attorney General’s Office.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:23-cr-54.