West Baltimore Drug Dealer Who Sold 6M Doses Of Fentanyl Jailed

BALTIMORE, MD —A west Baltimore drug dealer who sold 6 million doses of fentanyl, enough to kill everyone in the state of Maryland, was sentenced to 24 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. James Johnson, 50, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute between 12 and 36 kilograms of fentanyl.

Since as little as 2 milligrams of fentanyl is a fatal dose, 12 kilograms is enough to kill 6 million people, or roughly the population of Maryland, the U.S. Attorney's office said in a news release. Johnson also possessed six firearms he used in drug trafficking. Because Johnson was on supervised release for a previous federal drug conviction when he was selling fentanyl, U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett ruled that Johnson violated the conditions of his probation and sentenced him to 15 months in prison, concurrent to his 24-year sentence.

“Law enforcement partners are working together to arrest and prosecute those who peddle deadly fentanyl on our streets and in our neighborhoods,” said U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur in a statement. “Drug traffickers are on notice that dealing in fentanyl increases their odds of federal prosecution. More and more people are dying from fentanyl overdoses in Baltimore City and throughout Maryland. We must do everything we can to reduce overdose deaths from this drug and from all opioids.”

According to his plea agreement, from July 2016 through March 2017, investigators targeted drug traffickers operating in the Gilmor Homes area of west Baltimore, including Johnson, co-conspirator Sharafa Buhari, and others. Court-ordered interceptions of communications on Johnson’s cellular telephone indicated that he was distributing fentanyl and heroin in Baltimore and elsewhere.

Authorities say intercepted conversations also showed a connection between Johnson and addresses in Baltimore where he met with co-conspirators and where drugs were delivered. Law enforcement recovered 2.45 kilograms of suspected heroin from a backpack and a suitcase being carried by Buhari and two co-conspirators after they got off a bus from New York.

One of the co-conspirators told investigators that Buhari had asked him to carry the backpack to Baltimore. Following the heroin seizure, FBI agents obtained court-ordered authorization to track Buhari’s cellular phone. The FBI also determined that Buhari purchased a one-way ticket to fly from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to his home country of Nigeria. Buhari was arrested in February 2017 inside JFK Airport by FBI New York and Customs and Border Patrol agents as he attempted to board the Nigeria-bound flight. Agents recovered over $11,000 and two cell phones from his five bags of luggage, as well as numerous adult diapers that Buhari intended to transport to Nigeria.

On March 22, 2017, search warrants were executed at residences on North Gilmor and West Lombard Streets that were associated with Johnson. Officers recovered a total of 8,500 grams of fentanyl and 17,250 grams of heroin, six firearms, and about $700,000 in cash, according to a news release.

Buhari,52, who resided in Brooklyn, New York, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and was sentenced for four years in federal prison.