BALTIMORE, MD—Steven Blackwell, age 27, of Elkton, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin, conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to defraud the United States government relating to the collection of income taxes.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard A McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeannine A Hammett of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, Washington, DC. Field Office; Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg L Bernstein; and Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H Bealefeld III.
“This case will be recorded in the books as a drug and tax prosecution, but it is an example of how we use federal law enforcement resources to fight violent crime,” said United States Attorney Rod J Rosenstein. “Drug dealers whose criminal enterprises spawn violence are at the top of our list.”
According to his plea agreement, Blackwell was the leader of a conspiracy to distribute heroin in Maryland, New York and the Dominican Republic since December 2003, managing five or more participants. Blackwell made millions of dollars and distributed more than 30 kilograms of heroin.
Blackwell became a member of the conspiracy as a Baltimore-based seller of heroin, which he obtained from suppliers in New York for approximately $70,000 per kilo. The heroin was then diluted and sold from “shops” and “outlets” operated by Blackwell in the Pimlico area of Baltimore City, on West Patterson Park Avenue, and elsewhere. The heroin was either delivered to Blackwell in Baltimore, or he sent Tahirah Carter and others to New York to deliver money and receive heroin, which was then transported back to Baltimore.
According to the plea agreement, Blackwell admits that he and Joy Edison conspired to launder the millions of dollars in proceeds from Blackwell’s heroin sales through the purchase of multiple properties, cars and other expensive items. In addition, in an effort to conceal the nature and the extent of the illegal income from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Blackwell and Edison engaged in financial transactions designed to prevent the IRS from properly assessing taxes due.
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