Silver Spring Man Sentenced After Gun, Drug Conspiracy Conviction

SILVER SPRING, MD — Darryl Colton Frazer, age 34, of Silver Spring was sentenced in federal court Thursday for gun and drug conspiracy charges and for violation of supervised release, according to court documents. He was convicted of those charges on Nov. 3, 2022.

U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman sentenced Frazer to seven years in federal prison, with three years of supervised release.

On July 2, 2019, Montgomery County Police officers approached Frazer and co-defendant 31-year-old Shamire Moore of Bowie, Maryland after they noticed that Moore resembled the description of a suspect wanted in a recent shooting. When the pair saw the officers, they both ran into a nearby residential area, where an officer located Frazier trying to enter an apartment, according to evidence presented at the trial.

Witnesses testified that during the foot pursuit, officers ordered Frazer to stop and drop a black bag that he was carrying. The officers arrested Frazer and recovered the bag, which contained a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol, 103 grams of marijuana in four plastic bags, latex gloves, and a digital scale, according to court documents.

Frazer had just finished a sentence the month before for a previous federal conviction for unlawful weapons possession. At the time of his arrest, he was on supervised release. He was also prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition due to his earlier conviction.

Police apprehended Moore and arrested him after a struggle. A search of the black bag he was carrying revealed a loaded .38 caliber revolver, a digital scale, and 106 grams of marijuana in four plastic bags. Police also found $579 in cash, which represented the proceeds of a drug trafficking offense, according to court documents.

Moore pleaded guilty before trial. As part of his plea agreement, he admitted that he possessed the marijuana in the bag and intended to distribute it. He also admitted the firearm was connected to the drug trafficking offense, since he intended to use it in part to defend his drug inventory and its proceeds, according to court documents.

Moore was charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana and to possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, according to a release. On March 7, he was sentenced to five years in federal prison plus five years of supervised release.