Heroin Stash House Operator Pleads Guilty

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Newport News man pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and a quantity of fentanyl.

According to court documents, Dujuan Walters, 34, maintained a stash house at his residence in Newport News, at the direction of co-conspirators. Walters and his co-conspirators used his residence to store heroin, fentanyl, a hydraulic press, and other equipment used in the preparation and distribution of controlled substances. In December 2018, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Walters’s residence, where they recovered the aforementioned items, as well as a kilogram of heroin, additional black tar heroin, and liquid fentanyl.

Walters pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin and a quantity of fentanyl and faces a mandatory minimum term of 10 years imprisonment and a maximum of life imprisonment when sentenced on April 17, 2020. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Jim Stitzel, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Norfolk; Jesse R. Fong, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division; Colonel Gary T. Settle, Superintendent of Virginia State Police; Steve R. Drew, Chief of Newport News Police; and Terry L. Sult, Chief of Hampton Police Division, made the announcement after Magistrate U.S. District Judge Robert J. Krask accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy E. Cross, Peter G. Osyf, and Kevin P. Hudson are prosecuting the case.

The case was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), Operation Cookout. The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

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. 4:19-cr-47.