U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (00:04):
Not sold off. Right? Fancy guns here. Is this the Grapper? Is this a Grapper?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
This is the Draco Grapper.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (00:16):
Thought so.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
AK style.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (00:17):
And that one?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Just a rifle.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (00:21):
Just a rifle?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yeah.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (00:23):
I grew up with rifles. They didn't look like that. Hi, everybody. How are you? Good to have you here today. Good to be here. Anybody have a sense of humor today? All right. You can get closer, I'm not going to bite anybody.
(00:50)
One year ago today, my office, along with the Washington Field Office of the FBI began an investigation stemming from the sale of PCP and fentanyl in Knox Place, Anacostia. This investigation is the culmination of what we call a Title III wiretap.
(01:13)
Last week, on August 21st, my office indicted eight individuals for PCP and fentanyl trafficking, as well as conspiracy. The individuals who've been indicted are the following. Two are from California, one is from Baltimore, and five of them are from the D.C., Maryland, Virginia area.
(01:38)
Now, this morning in a very sophisticated and almost flawlessly run operation, the FBI Washington Field Office, along with my office, executed approximately 20 residential search warrants across D.C., Maryland and Los Angeles. And I want to thank the Metropolitan Police and DEA for assisting us this morning in D.C., Maryland and Los Angeles as well.
(02:07)
Now, at present, there are 12 individuals who have been arrested. Seven of the eight indicted individuals, there is still one fugitive on a sealed indictment. Five additional defendants have been arrested this morning as a result of the operation.
(02:26)
The facts. The D.C.-based drug traffickers sold PCP and fentanyl in and around the 2900 block of Knox Place Southeast. You may or may not be familiar with that area, but it is a neighborhood that has experienced an inordinate amount of violent crime, including five homicides at least that we know of, with other violent crimes in the past year.
(02:56)
The D.C.-based narcotics traffickers sourced their narcotics through Baltimore, and there was a co-conspirator who in turn was importing narcotics from California. So, this included a 17-gallon, that's what I said, a 17-gallon shipment of PCP that was intercepted outside of Topeka, Kansas earlier this year.
(03:25)
And today's seizures and search warrants included 18 firearms that you see in front of me right now, including an AR-style rifle, a shotgun, a Draco-style pistol, as well as, I don't know if we have this in front of you, in addition to the weapons seized, a fentanyl pill press. And we also seized approximately two kilos of narcotics that include powdered fentanyl, cocaine, as well as cocaine-based crack.
(04:01)
The crimes. Conspiracy to distribute narcotics, a felon in possession of a weapon, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and one individual defendant was an alien who was deported three times and he was in possession of a firearm. He's also charged with illegal re-entry.
(04:26)
Now, we use Title III to identify the suppliers. One individual by the name of Thomas Hancock from Baltimore. The source of his supply was an individual from Los Angeles. And this is what the violent crime and narcotics section, narcotics trafficking section of my office does on a daily basis.
(04:50)
And what we do are long-term investigations, and they have a very maximum impact given the amount of time that we invest in these cases. Doug Hannock to my left is in charge of the Violent Crime and Narcotics trafficking section.
(05:09)
What we do is we work our way up the chain, which is what all prosecutors look to do, and we did just that. We got some major prolific drug dealers. Based not just on what we saw, but our under covers were buying an incredible amount of drugs, which tells us that the sale of drugs to people in the communities in the D.C., Virginia, Maryland area was an incredible amount.
(05:42)
So, I would like to identify now for you the individuals who have been arrested. Thomas Hancock, 43 of Baltimore, Maryland. Eric Prather, 43, of Washington D.C., Reginald Lassiter, 39, of D.C., Leonard Edwards, 52, of D.C., Daryl Riley, 39, of Washington D.C., Michael Thomas, 49, of Los Angeles, and Sarda Smith of Oxon Hill, Maryland.
(06:12)
Now in addition, we have five other individuals that we picked up pursuant to what we saw today. They are Jerika Missouri, 35, Melvina Rawlings, 40, Damian Petty, 54, Antoinette Lane, 64, along with Terrence Boyd, 42. This is what the President is talking about. This is part of our cleaning up the district and the nation's capitol.
(06:46)
And although it didn't happen in one night, these arrests, all 12 of them, and the seizure of all these weapons indicate the seriousness of crime that is occurring in our community. And we need all the help that we can get to make sure that we make the arrests, and that we continue going into court with solid cases where we can get convictions and appropriate sentences.
(07:12)
And I want to thank all my partners here, as I said, from DEA and the MPD, and Chief Smith is here from the Metropolitan Police. But I particularly want to thank Phil Banks from the Washington Field Office, the ADIC in charge of the FBI, who was with us from day one on this long-running investigation.
Phil Bates (07:36):
Thank you, U.S. Attorney Pirro. I'm Phil Bates. I'm the acting assistant director in charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office. I'm grateful to be here with you today to highlight an example of the FBI's work to crush violent crime in our communities.
(07:51)
Over the last year, the FBI led an investigation into this violent drug trafficking ring based in Southeast D.C. The subjects distributed large amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, and PCP throughout the region. Their network stretched from coast to coast, as Judge Pirro outlined, including couriers and suppliers in Baltimore and in California.
(08:14)
Today, alongside our federal and local partners, we executed searches and arrests at 20 locations in D.C., Maryland and in California. We arrested 12 individuals and seized over 2 kilograms of narcotics, a pill press, more than $50,000, and 18 guns. That's 12 violent drug traffickers and 18 firearms that are no longer on our streets.
(08:41)
These arrests are the result of collaboration between the FBI's Washington Field Office, our partners at the DEA, and our partners at the Metropolitan Police Department. This also includes our FBI offices in Baltimore, Richmond, and Los Angeles, who provided valuable support to this investigation.
(09:01)
With this morning's arrest, our communities are safer than they were yesterday. By combining our local and federal resources, and sharing crucial intelligence, we can rid our neighborhoods of illicit drugs and dismantle dangerous drug trafficking organizations.
(09:19)
We vow to continue to target drug traffickers and violent offenders to ensure our nation's capital is safe for its residents, the workers who come here each day, the members of our community, and the visitors who enjoy this city. Thank you.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (09:37):
All right. Questions? Yes, sir.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Yeah. On the topic of violent crime, the President said today that anybody who murders somebody in Washington D.C. will have the death penalty going against them. Is this something that is going to happen in your office?
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (09:50):
Well, absolutely. I think that when the President came in, the Attorney General indicated that we would be seeking the death penalty in appropriate cases. And obviously, there was a whole process that we go through, and a couple of weeks ago with the capital murder, the murder of the two individuals from the Capitol Museum, we indicated what that process is. It's a very deliberative process, but we will absolutely be following the President's directive, and it ultimately is in the hands of the Attorney General who makes that decision.
Speaker 5 (10:26):
Just a follow-up, Judge. D.C. has abolished the death penalty. That capital case was a federal case. When we're talking about murder one and other cases in D.C., how does your office plan to get around that issue and the fact that the judges are also potentially unlikely to want to impose that?
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (10:44):
Well, I think it's really up to a jury as opposed to the judges. And I think that what the public is seeing is that Washington has been far too violent, one of the most violent cities, unfortunately, in the country. And it is time that we recognize that law and or order is back in D.C., and that we will use all legal sanctions and sentences as called for by law.
Speaker 6 (11:12):
Your office has had trouble in the last couple of weeks with an alleged assault case, having the grand jury refuse to indict on the charges. Does that give you any sense of how juries in this city are going to deal with the crackdown that you're doing?
(11:30)
And also, in reference to the President's announcement on the death penalty, D.C. hasn't had a death penalty trial, I think since 2003, and the jury rejected it. So how do you plan to deal with that aspect of your crackdown?
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (11:46):
Well, first of all, to answer your last question, we're going to follow the law, the deliberative process, present the evidence, recognize that the law does permit us to do this, whether D.C. is inclined to do it or not. It's not a political issue. This is an issue that is sanctioned by the law and gives us the power to do that. If not us, then who?
(12:09)
And as it relates to grand juries, the only thing that I can say is we are prosecutors. We are the tip of the spear. We are the ones who take these cases into court, and the burden is on us to prove these cases. And we welcome that burden beyond a reasonable doubt. Sometimes the jury will buy it and sometimes they won't. So be it. That's the way the process works. Yes, sir.
Speaker 7 (12:35):
Justice Pirro, Justice-
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (12:36):
No, I'm a judge. I'm not a justice. I'll never be a justice.
Speaker 7 (12:40):
Some justice.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (12:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 7 (12:43):
We see these violent traffickers that were taken off the street. This juxtaposed a little bit by the fact that there was a murder in D.C., in Anacostia last night.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (12:53):
Yeah, unfortunately. Yeah.
Speaker 7 (12:54):
Can you explain on that a little bit? We saw the President, Vice President, a number of different individuals saying that, "The streets have never been safer," but there was a murder last night, and I just wanted your thoughts on that.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (13:06):
I have to give the President kudos for everything he's doing. No one has bothered to bring in the resources of law enforcement, federal and local. I mean DEA, the FBI, the Marshals, the Park Police, the Capitol Police, the Metro Police. I'm sure I'm leaving someone out. But that is a scenario that we should all be grateful for because it puts us in a position of making us safer.
(13:33)
Are people going to commit crimes? Of course they are. But I think everyone in this room knows that there is a small percentage of individuals who commit the violent crimes and who repeatedly do it, especially in an area where there's no such thing as bail.
(13:51)
And so, what we've got to do is try to identify who those people are, take them out of the community based upon their criminal acts, and the law and the evidence, to make this place safe. Are we going to make it perfectly safe? God, I hope we can. But no one, other than President Trump, has put the resources, the effort, the energy into doing this. How much more are we going in this?
Speaker 8 (14:18):
Just one question-
Speaker 9 (14:19):
I have one about D.C. crime. Just a question in general. We heard you say before, and we've heard the internal or police say, "We need more officers." About 600 shy of when our homicides were 80 a year in D.C. But the President also has said, conversely, "Hey, 3,100 is enough officers," but now you're seeing a surge of federal officers and we're seeing things like this. How do you respond to that sort of cognitive dissonance between him saying, "No, you've got more than enough officers," but this seems to be yielding things?
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (14:47):
Well, I leave it up to the President to make the decision as to how many people and how many officers we need to put in this district. What we're trying to do is, it's almost like, I don't want to use the word so I'm not going to use it, but we are a microcosm of the country. And if this is what it takes to clean up crime… And I was devastated this morning when I found out there was a homicide last night, because we were counting every day, every day no homicide.
(15:18)
Are people going to be evil? You're damn right they're going to be evil. Are they going to continue to commit crime? Absolutely. But we're not in every house, we're not in every store, but we're going to do the best thing that we can do. And the President is doing just that and providing resources. What the upshot and what the final analysis is up to the President.
Speaker 8 (15:39):
This is sort of a process question and-
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (15:41):
Oh, these are the ones I hate.
Speaker 8 (15:44):
But there've been a lot of announcement of arrests and a lot of numbers coming in both from the White House and [inaudible 00:15:49] arrests.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (15:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (15:49):
And then also numbers of people who were found to be illegal. Right? In this case, in one of these guys here. When somebody is found in the district, part of this, is here illegally, but has committed some sort of crime-
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (16:01):
Yeah, I know the question.
Speaker 8 (16:02):
Are they automatically-
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (16:03):
It depends.
Speaker 8 (16:04):
[inaudible 00:16:04] immigration authorities, or?
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (16:04):
It depends.
Speaker 8 (16:04):
It depends?
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (16:07):
I don't know if you would answer that differently. Sometimes we will go forward with the case and other times they'll be deported immediately. It depends on the severity of the case, it depends on the situation.
(16:21)
Right now, this guy who legally entered and is part of a huge drug trapping conspiracy, as you can see from this, I imagine he's going to be deported, but then he's been deported three other times. So you tell me what should happen. Should he be deported or should he be put in jail?
Speaker 8 (16:39):
I'm not paid enough to make this decision.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (16:45):
You know what? I'll leave it at that. Okay, everybody.
Speaker 10 (16:46):
[inaudible 00:16:46] a question for the acting deputy director, if you have a moment?
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (16:48):
Come on, Phil, you take it.
Speaker 10 (16:50):
Well, the first question's for you, Judge-
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (16:52):
Why?
Speaker 10 (16:52):
… about body cams. There's a recent call for the National Guard to wear body cams. Do you think given the fact that MPD wears them, your office relies on body cam footage in cases, sometimes it's critical? Do you think the National Guards members who are here should be having to wear body cam footage given their de facto law enforcement role?
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (17:09):
Well, I don't know what the arguments are pro and con on that, I really haven't been involved, but I think the more transparency there is in criminal cases, the better off we all are. Do you want to answer that? No.
Speaker 10 (17:25):
I had a separate question for you, sir. The Washington Field Office is also putting officers out on the street right now, given the surge. Were the same officers who were investigating this case throughout the past year and especially in the last three weeks, some of the ones who are also on the street working literally 24/7?
Phil Bates (17:42):
Yeah, we have agents from across the office and across the region who are working to supplement our partners on the task force on a daily basis. I won't get into the specifics of who worked which investigation, but yes, we're supplementing and resourcing the various teams that are out on a streets on a daily basis.
Speaker 11 (18:03):
Judge [inaudible 00:18:03] out of time.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (18:04):
No, I think you're done. Okay. Thank you. You want to take a picture of the guns? Thank you, everybody.
Speaker 12 (18:11):
[inaudible 00:18:11] jails?
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (18:13):
What'd you say?
Speaker 12 (18:16):
The jails, they might be-
Speaker 13 (18:16):
[inaudible 00:18:16] be sent to Maryland?
Speaker 12 (18:16):
Are they going to be sent to Maryland if they become overcrowded?
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro (18:19):
The last thing I'm worried about is an overcrowded jail. Okay? The thing I'm worried about is the people in D.C. who feel like they're in jail because the criminals are running around and they don't have a choice to walk the streets or come out of their apartments. Thank you.