Capitol Heights Man Pleads Guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances and Federal Firearm Charges

Greenbelt, Maryland – Billy Lorenzo Bush, age 37, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, pleaded guilty on December 20, 2021 to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.    

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Acting Special Agent in Charge L.C. Cheeks, Jr of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; and Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department.

According to his guilty plea, on June 8, 2020, officers discovered Bush passed out and unresponsive in the driver’s seat of a vehicle that was involved in a single-vehicle accident.  Bush was the sole occupant in the vehicle.  Upon further inspection, officers saw baggies of marijuana spilling out of a backpack and a handgun on the front passenger seat.

After additional PGPD officers arrived on the scene, officers broke the driver’s side window to unlock the doors and remove Bush from the vehicle.  As a result of the search of Bush’s vehicle, officers recovered a .40 caliber handgun loaded with 15 rounds of ammunition, 1,100.80 grams of marijuana, digital scales, empty baggies, and 47.55 grams of a substance containing PCP.  Bush became responsive upon his removal from the vehicle and was subsequently taken into custody.  When officers searched Bush incident to his arrest, officers found 102.29 grams of a substance containing eutylone on his person.

Bush agrees that he possessed the marijuana and eutylone and intended to distribute them to others.  Bush also agrees that he possessed the .40 caliber firearm in furtherance of his drug trafficking activities.

Bush and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Bush will be sentenced to no less than 77 months and no more than 120 months in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang has scheduled sentencing for March 9, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. 

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica C. Collins, who is prosecuting the case.

These cases are 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.  Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Project Safe Neighborhoods program (PSN), a unified and comprehensive strategy to combat gun crime that combines local, state and federal law enforcement efforts; community outreach; and public awareness, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psnexile.

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