Heroin Trafficker Gets 15 Years in Prison

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A Woodbridge man was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison last week for selling heroin in and around Prince William County.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III sentenced Bryan Christopher Samuel, 38, on Thursday to 180 months in prison for conspiring to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin and possession of a firearm in furtherance of his drug trafficking crime. The prison sentence will be followed by eight years of supervised release, according to the U.S. District Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The heroin distribution case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Manassas City Police Department. Law enforcement authorities said that even after his arrest, Samuel tried to sell heroin from his jail cell, according to the Washington Post.

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Samuel pleaded guilty Feb. 19 just a few days before his trial was set to begin, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. According to court documents, Samuel, along with four co-conspirators, obtained what the office termed “distribution quantities” of heroin from Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. They would repackage it for individual resale in and around Prince William County.

In addition, Samuel carried a firearm for protection when buying larger quantities of narcotics, and used a firearm when he robbed a rival drug dealer, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

“Not content to simply deal drugs from his own apartment, [Samuel] brought narcotics, firearms and addicts to areas where law-abiding members of the community are typically found and engaged in drug deals at those locations,” the attorney’s office added.