United States Drug Enforcement Administration

Baltimore, Maryland – A Maryland man is headed to federal prison for his role in a drug-trafficking conspiracy.

U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox sentenced Adrian Jackson, 42, of Owings Mills, today, to three years in prison, followed by four years of supervised release, for conspiring to distribute and possessing with intent to distribute cocaine. The charges are in connection with a Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) drug investigation.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with Special Agent in Charge Cindy Marx, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) – Washington Division, and Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul, FBI Baltimore Field Office.

According to court documents, in the Fall 2022, the DEA and FBI began investigating a drug-trafficking conspiracy involving several individuals, connected to a drug trafficking organization (DTO), who were distributing cocaine in the Baltimore area. During the investigation, law enforcement obtained court-authorized wiretaps for several cell phones.  Investigators intercepted phone calls in which Jackson and co-conspirators used coded language to discuss distributing cocaine, arrange meetings to distribute cocaine, and obtain the cash proceeds. Law enforcement conducted surveillance and several undercover controlled purchases of narcotics from Jackson connected to the intercepted wiretap communications.

Then in April 2024, investigators executed a federal search warrant on Jackson’s Owings Mills residence. During the search, investigators recovered approximately 212 grams of cocaine, two black digital scales with suspected drug residue, drug packaging material, and approximately $4,796 of illegal cash proceeds linked to cocaine sales. Authorities also recovered a pistol. Jackson is prohibited from possessing a firearm due to his status as a felon.

The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Baltimore comprises agents and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the District of Maryland; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI); the United States Marshals Service (USMS); the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA (W/B HIDTA); the Maryland State Police (MSP); the Baltimore Police Department (BPD); and the Baltimore County Police Department (BCPD) with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the DEA and FBI for their work in the investigation.  Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Simpkins who prosecuted this federal case.