News Release
June 8, 2004
Contact: Laura DiCesare PIO—202.305.8093

Salisbury Area Drug Ring Leader Sentenced to 30 Years

JUN 8 -- Laura M. Nagel, Special Agent in Charge of DEA’s Washington Division announced today that Ronald Seldon, age 29, of Salisbury, Maryland, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz to 30 years in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release arising from his guilty plea on March 29, 2004 to charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine hydrochloride and cocaine base, commonly known as “crack”, and money laundering. Judge Motz also ordered that Seldon forfeit any interest in various homes, businesses, cars, cash, bank accounts, and insurance policies.

According to an agreed statement of facts presented to the court, between 1996 and April 2003 Seldon conspired with numerous individuals to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine hydrochloride, primarily in Prince George’s County and counties on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. He obtained multiple ounces and kilogram quantities of these drugs from sources of supply in New York, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, and used various individuals to assist him in the distribution of those drugs in Maryland. Seldon also employed couriers to transport the drugs and monies back and forth from Maryland and New York. Seldon would cook the cocaine hydrochloride that he obtained from his sources into crack cocaine for distribution in the Maryland area.

According to the statement of facts, the execution of search warrants in July 2000 and March 2003 on residences, vehicles and bank accounts associated with Seldon and three women resulted in the seizure of: three guns, approximately $143,000 in United States currency; drug paraphernalia, including tables and vehicles with hidden compartments and kilogram wrappers; jewelry valued at approximately $130,400; and quantities of narcotics, including approximately 800 grams of cocaine base and 800 grams of cocaine hydrochloride. Seldon used his mother, Yvonne Seldon, his girlfriend, Edwina Harmon, and her mother, Sylvia Harmon, to launder the proceeds of his drug business. The women who also entered pleas of guilty to money laundering on March 29, 2004, will be sentenced on Thursday, June 10, 2004.

This Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case is a result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Salisbury Post of Duty and Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, with assistance from the Salisbury Resident Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Wicomico, Dorchester, and Somerset County Narcotics Task Forces of the Maryland State Police. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Angela R. White and Christine Manuelian.