Heroin Trafficker Sentenced to 12 Years

MADISON, WIS. - Scott C. Blader, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that D’Angelo Smith, 43, Madison, Wisconsin was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 12 years in prison for possessing more than 100 grams of heroin with the intent to distribute it.   Smith pleaded guilty to this charge on January 21, 2020.

On June 17, 2019, police conducted searches of Smith’s home on Langdon Street in Madison, and his barbershop on Thierer Road in Madison. During the search of Smith’s home, police found 176 grams of heroin inside a disposable fast food coffee cup.  Smith was stopped after driving away from one of the search locations.  Police searched Smith’s car and found a case containing a digital scale and several tied off baggies of controlled substances, including heroin.

In sentencing Smith, Judge Peterson said a lengthy sentence was necessary because of Smith’s extensive criminal history which included prior drug trafficking convictions and his return to the drug activity soon after his release from a prior sentence.  

The charges against D’Angelo Smith were the result of an investigation conducted by the Sun Prairie Police Department, Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Dane County Narcotics Task Force.  The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Anderson.