“NFL” Gang Member Sentenced to 13 Years in Federal Prison for Racketeering Charges
Defendant Harassed Witness to Obstruct Prosecution of Fellow Gang Member
Baltimore, Md. – Juawan Davis, age 25, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise. Following his guilty plea, U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Davis to 13 years in federal prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release.
The sentence was announced by Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore District Office; United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Secretary Robert Green of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services; Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.
According to his guilty plea, from 2017 to April 2019, Davis participated in the Normandy, Franklin, and Loudon “NFL” drug trafficking enterprise (DTO) and self-identified as an NFL member. The term “NFL” stands for Normandy, Franklin, and Loudon, which are three adjacent streets that run through the Edmondson Village in Baltimore. Members of NFL have social and familial ties to the Edmondson Village neighborhood in southwest Baltimore. Members of the NFL distributed large quantities of heroin, cocaine base, and fentanyl to drug users and drug redistributors from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. In furtherance of the enterprise, NFL members shared narcotics supplies and distributed narcotics on a daily basis, including heroin mixed with fentanyl. Drug customers believed they were purchasing heroin, but in reality, the NFL DTO often altered the heroin with fentanyl or sold fentanyl to customers without any heroin.
As detailed in his plea agreement, law enforcement intercepted communications identified Davis as a participant in the NFL’s drug trafficking activities. Specifically, Davis obtained heroin and fentanyl in distribution quantities from other NFL members, which he then sold to customers on a regular basis. Davis agrees that it was reasonably foreseeable to him that he and other NFL members distributed over one kilogram of heroin during his participation in the DTO.
Additionally, Davis intimidated, threatened, and publicly shamed individuals who the enterprise thought to be cooperating with law enforcement. For example, on January 11, 2018, Davis posted a photo of a former NFL drug distributor on social media, in which Davis identified the former distributor as a “rat” or a person who cooperated with law enforcement. Similarly, on January 31, 2018, Davis posted discovery information from a state prosecution that identified a witness in the case. Davis made this post to assist an NFL member who was pending trial in that case. The witness later refused to testify in state court and the case was dismissed against the NFL member.
Further, on December 20, 2018, agreed to provide an associate with one of his handguns after the associate requested the firearm. In the process of retrieving the firearm, Davis traveled to his Baltimore home and shared a live stream video of himself brandishing a pistol. Shortly after retrieving the pistol from his home, the law enforcement stopped Davis at a nearby gas station where agents searched his car and recovered 40 grams of a heroin fentanyl mix and a pistol loaded with ammunition.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. 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.
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