A 20-year-old Virginia man, Trayveon James Johnson, received a 108-month prison sentence today after pleading guilty to his part in a large-scale drug trafficking operation, as announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and several federal agency representatives; this sentence stems from Johnson's involvement in distributing fentanyl-laced pills acquired from Southern California and then dispensed throughout various locations including the District of Columbia, as reported by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Johnson, also known as “Treyski,” made trips to Southern California to purchase and subsequently smuggle the counterfeit oxycodone pills, often masked in luggage or other personal items, and on occasion, utilizing mail carriers to ship the drugs back to D.C., where he and other co-conspirators would redistribute the narcotics—a system unraveling following the overdose death of a D.C. mother, which led to a broad investigation spearheaded by the DEA and USPIS, among other local and federal agencies netting over 450,000 of these lethal pills and resulting in 24 arrests.
The court, under U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, also mandated that Johnson complete five years of supervised release following his prison term. The gravity of Johnson's actions was highlighted by his prior knowledge of the deadly outcomes of the counterfeit pills he distributed, as evidenced by a chilling text message exchange from December 2022 and the January 2023 overdose death of co-conspirator Mathias Tsegaye. Despite these warnings, Johnson, arrested in November 2023, continued his illicit activities, demonstrating a reckless disregard for the dangers of fentanyl—a detail emphasized by authorities, who recalled the widespread damage caused by the opioid epidemic.
The crackdown forms part of an OCDETF investigation that utilizes a synergistic approach, engaging multiple law enforcement agencies to dismantle nefarious networks that endanger public safety; the effort was also supported by offices across California, Virginia, and Maryland, aiming to offer some reprieve to communities beleaguered by the opioid crisis and the relentless tide of fentanyl flooding the streets, crippling families, and taking lives with unforgiving alacrity, and the prosecutions, headed by a team of assistant U.S. Attorneys, reflects the compounded effort to wrest control from those who profit from the distribution of deathly substances.
Ongoing cases include several co-defendants awaiting sentencing or who have already faced similar justice as Johnson, spanning from members in California to D.C., with varied charges including conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and international money laundering, shedding light on the extensive reach and the intricate workings of this drug trafficking network.
