Man Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking and Firearms Charges

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Fredericksburg man pleaded guilty yesterday to running a drug trafficking conspiracy and illegally dealing over 200 firearms.

According to court documents, beginning in August 2015 and continuing through his arrest in March 2018, Bobby Perkins, Jr., 29, supervised a conspiracy to distribute marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, crack cocaine, and heroin in Fredericksburg and Stafford County. During the course of the conspiracy, Perkins routinely carried on his person semi-automatic pistols to avoid being robbed of his drugs and the proceeds of his drug-distribution activities. Additionally, Perkins supplied his co-conspirators with firearms, which they used in furtherance of the conspiracy.

Separately, during an approximately five-month period in 2015, in Stafford County, Hanover County, and Henrico County, Perkins engaged in the business of dealing in firearms without a license. Perkins acquired and re-sold over 200 semi-automatic pistols, at least 106 of which have been recovered by law enforcement. Most of the firearms were recovered in Washington, D.C., with others found in Maryland, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Perkins knew that several of the individuals to whom he sold the firearms were convicted felons.

Perkins pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug-trafficking crime, and dealing in firearms without a license. He faces a mandatory minimum of ten years and a maximum of life in prison when sentenced on August 31. 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.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Thomas L. Chittum, III, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis, III accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander E. Blanchard and Carina A. Cuellar are prosecuting the case.

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 is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-214.