District Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Gun and Drug Charges After Being Observed Engaging in Sale of Narcotics

            WASHINGTON – Austin Boykins, 35, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, after law enforcement discovered a loaded firearm and packaged narcotics in his vehicle following a street sale of drugs during an undercover operation, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Boykins pled guilty before the Honorable Ellen S. Huvelle in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years of incarceration and up to life imprisonment. Judge Huvelle scheduled sentencing for Jan. 23, 2019.

            According to the government’s evidence, on July 10, 2018, members of MPD’s Narcotics and Special Investigations Unit were conducting undercover operations in the 1200 to 1300 block of Rock Creek Ford Road NW. During the operation, a plainclothes undercover officer observed Boykins engage in a hand-to-hand drug transaction. Arrest teams moved in and obtained crack cocaine from the purchaser and stopped Boykins, who had $587.48 in cash on his person and a key to a Porsche that was only a few feet away from him. After obtaining a search warrant for the vehicle, law enforcement recovered the defendant’s wallet, which had two photo identifications from two separate jurisdictions, 14 grams of crack cocaine, and a loaded firearm. The firearm was subsequently found to contain his DNA.

            Boykins has prior convictions in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia  for  firearms and narcotics offenses.

            In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Liu and Chief Newsham, commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Macchiaroli, Paralegal Specialist Candace Battle, and Legal Assistant Aiesha Bynum.