Manager in Major Baltimore Drug Trafficking Organization Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Desmond Ringgold, a/k/a Worm and Fool, age 32, of Baltimore, Maryland to 15 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for his role as a supervisor in a prolific drug trafficking organization (DTO) that operated in and around Baltimore. 

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Special Agent in Charge Jennifer C. Boone of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Assistant Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.  

According to Ringgold’s plea agreement, from October 2018 to April 2019, law enforcement investigated a DTO operating in the Baltimore metropolitan area that sold heroin, cocaine base (crack cocaine), and fentanyl to drug users and drug redistributors from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The DTO sold thousands of dollars in narcotics on a daily basis, with street-level distributors in the DTO working in shifts and sharing the phones they used to communicate with DTO leadership and customers.  Customers of the DTO believed they were purchasing heroin, but the DTO adulterated all heroin it sold with fentanyl.

Investigators identified Ringgold as a supervisor and manager in the drug trafficking organization.  As such, Ringgold managed daily supplies of narcotics and the collection of drug proceeds from distributors.  Investigators regularly overheard Ringgold arranging to resupply co-conspirators with heroin and cocaine base to sell to drug customers.  Ringgold also communicated about the DTO business with a leader in the DTO, serving as a conduit between street-level dealers and DTO leadership.  Ringgold admitted that over the course of the conspiracy he distributed more than one kilogram of heroin to street-level distributors.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.               

Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner praised the FBI, the DEA, the Montgomery County Police Department, and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Lenzner thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew DellaBetta, who prosecuted the case.

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