AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC at 410-209-4885

FEBRUARY 13, 2006

DISTRICT HEIGHTS MAN SENTENCED TO 38 YEARS FOR RETALIATORY MURDER OF FEDERAL COOPERATOR AND ARSON

GREENBELT, Maryland - United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein announced that today U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced James Allen Irby, III, age 29, of District Heights, Maryland to 38 years in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, for the March 28, 2003 murder of Terrence Deadwyler, an informant for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Judge Chasanow also ordered Irby to pay $4,745 for the victim’s funeral expenses. A jury convicted Irby of murdering Deadwyler in retaliation for his assisting a federal law enforcement investigation, using a firearm to commit that murder, and arson.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said, “Law enforcement authorities are united in our commitment to ensure that any criminal who attacks a witness will face the full force of the law.”

According to evidence introduced at trial, Irby shot Deadwyler three times and stabbed him approximately 174 times in retaliation for Deadwyler providing information about Irby to an ATF agent. Irby then set a fire that destroyed Deadwyler’s residence, an apartment building that was located in District Heights. According to the evidence presented at trial and the sentencing hearing, the fire destroyed much of the apartment building, causing many residents to flee the building in the early morning hours of March 28, 2003.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorneys James M. Trusty and Mythili Raman, who are prosecuting the case. Mr. Rosenstein also expressed his appreciation to the Assistant United States Attorneys for the District of Columbia who assisted in the case.