Baltimore Drug Dealer Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced James Webb, Jr. age 42, of Perry Hall, Maryland today to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and heroin.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Don A. Hibbert of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Commissioner Kevin Davis of the Baltimore Police Department; and Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department.

According to information presented to the court at Webb’s plea and sentencing hearings, from May through November 2015, Webb distributed cocaine and heroin which he obtained from co-conspirators in Houston, Texas.  The co-conspirators made regular trips from Houston to Baltimore, bringing with them kilograms of cocaine and heroin, and then returning to Houston with the cash proceeds of those sales.

As a result of the DEA investigation, which included a court-ordered wiretap on Webb’s cellphone, on November 8, 2015, Webb was arrested and a search warrant was executed at Webb’s stash house in Parkville, Maryland.  From that location, investigators recovered a hydraulic press intended for the repackaging of narcotics, packaging material, and other paraphernalia associated with drug distribution.  From a storage unit in the basement of this apartment building, investigators seized more than five kilograms of cocaine and more than one kilogram of heroin.  The co-conspirators had brought these drugs to Webb from Houston and they had left the stash house to return to Houston just prior to the searches conducted by police.

At today’s hearing, the government argued that during the course of the conspiracy, Webb obtained more than 15 kilograms but less than 50 kilograms of cocaine (including its equivalent in heroin) which was intended for distribution.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the DEA, Baltimore Police Department and Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys James G. Warwick and Joshua T. Ferrentino, who prosecuted this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case.