Kennedy Street Drug Gang Member Sentenced to 220 Months for Trafficking Fentanyl While Armed

            WASHINGTON – David Penn, 31, of Washington D.C. and a member of the violent Kennedy Street Crew (KDY), was sentenced today to 220 months in federal prison for his role in a massive drug trafficking organization that operated open-air markets in Northwest Washington D.C. where he dealt copious amounts of fentanyl and cocaine base and sold firearms, including an assault rifle.

           The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, DEA Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Washington Division, ATF Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives – Washington Division, and Special Agent in Charge Kareem Carter of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Washington D.C. Field Office.

            Penn, aka “Turtle,” pleaded guilty on June 27, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and to two counts of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell ordered Penn to serve five years of supervised release.

            According to court documents, KDY members operated open-air drug markets on an 11-block stretch of Kennedy Street in Northwest Washington, D.C., as well as surrounding streets. Like many drug trafficking organizations (DTOs), KDY armed itself with fire power to facilitate the drug trade and defend its territory from rival crews.

            For his part, Penn was a bulk fentanyl supplier who trafficked narcotics and firearms in the Kennedy Street Neighborhood while armed with guns. During a span of five months, from December 2022 to May 2023, Penn conducted 17 controlled buys with undercover officers selling a total of about 257.73 grams of fentanyl, 11.15 grams of cocaine base, and semi-automatic firearms that included a Draco and an AR-15 assault rifle.

            On February 3, 2023, patrol officers in the 900 block of Kennedy Street NW stopped Penn’s vehicle wherein they found about 44 grams of fentanyl, 11 grams of cocaine base, 1.4 kilograms of marijuana, digital scales, one 22-round extended magazine with 22 rounds of ammunition; and one loaded machine gun.

            On February 23, 2023, wholly undeterred by his recent arrest, Penn agreed to sell an undercover officer a privately manufactured AR-15 assault rifle for $3,800.

            This investigation was conducted under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

            This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department, the DEA’s Washington Division, ATF’s Washington Field Division, with assistance from FBI’s Washington Field Office, and the IRS-Criminal Investigation Washington, D.C. Office.

            The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Kinskey and Sitara Witanachchi, of the of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. 

DEFENDANTS

            Defendant Cameron Reid is from Falmouth, VA; all remaining defendants are from Washington, D.C.

            An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.