A Washington, D.C. felon and known member of the street crew "No Rats Allowed" was sentenced to a stiff 12-year prison term after pleading guilty to weapon and drug trafficking offenses, including dealing in fatal fentanyl pills. Bartwone Copeland, 28, faced justice on counts of possessing a machinegun and distributing the dangerous drug following a joint FBI and Metropolitan Police Department operation, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Copeland, a repeat offender with a daunting rap sheet, was busted with enough firepower to start his own army and enough fentanyl to kill a small town. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, he pleaded guilty last December to charges including unlawful possession with intent to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
The sentencing, held in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, concluded with the Honorable Dabney L. Friedrich ordering Copeland to follow up the 12-year term with five years of supervised release. Court documents revealed that Copeland operated out of D.C. townhouses, using them as hubs for drug distribution and to store illegal firearms.
In the November 2021 raid on his operation dubbed “the Dope Hole,” authorities found assorted drugs, loads of cash, and a modified Glock 23 pistol turned machine gun capable to unleash 20 rounds with a single trigger pull, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office. When first arrested, Copeland tried to escape, only to be caught again in 2022 with a trove of blue pills laced with fentanyl and yet another weapon with an obliterated serial number. Text messages on his devices exposed even larger drug operations, suggesting dealings of up to 20,000 pills over a mere two-week span.
A run through Copeland’s criminal history paints a picture of a man well-acquainted with the inside of a courthouse – previous convictions for assault with a dangerous weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm, and an attempt to commit robbery mark his past. Following the investigation spearheaded by the Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI’s Violent Crime Task Force, prosecutors like Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin Song and Joshua Gold ensured that Copeland's tenure on the streets has reached a decisive halt.
