The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration – Washington Division; Acting Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal E. Awad; and Annapolis Police Chief Edward Jackson.
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III sentenced Orlando Ray Coleman, Sr., age 44, of Millersville, Maryland, to eight years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl.
In mid-May 2021, several search warrants were executed on houses associated with Coleman. From Coleman’s house in Millersville, investigators recovered approximately $39,280 from a safe in the main bedroom. At a house in Glen Burnie, Maryland, believed to be his stash location, investigators recovered a total of approximately 256 grams of fentanyl, approximately 192 grams of cocaine, approximately 43 grams of crack cocaine, and approximately 453 grams of heroin, and paraphernalia to include numerous gel caps with residue, and two scales with residue, among other items. Additionally, from the bedroom closet law enforcement recovered a rifle, one magazine with 6 rounds of .223 caliber ammunition, one 7.62 x 39 round magazine with 32 rounds of 7.62 caliber ammunition, and a full box of loose ammunition in a grey box from a suitcase and a second rifle was recovered from another suitcase in the closet. Coleman admitted that he possessed the fentanyl with the intent to distribute it, and that the firearms, magazines, and ammunition constituted proceeds of Coleman’s drug trafficking activity or were used, or intended to be used, to facilitate Coleman’s drug trafficking activity.
According to his guilty plea, in November 2019, law enforcement received information about several drug trafficking organizations operating in and around the Annapolis, Maryland area and identified Orland Ray Coleman, Sr. as a drug trafficker operating in the Annapolis and Baltimore metropolitan areas and who was believed to be responsible for distributing drugs to other drug trafficking organizations in the Annapolis area. Additional investigation revealed that Clarence Coby was a source of supply to Coleman, specifically providing Coleman and other Annapolis-areas drug traffickers with fentanyl and cocaine.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
On November 28, 2023, Clarence Coby, age 48, of Baltimore, Maryland, was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the DEA-led High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force comprised of agents and officers from the Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County and Howard County Police Departments, the Laurel City Police Department, the Annapolis Police Department, and the Maryland Transportation Authority Police Department; the FBI Annapolis Safe Streets Task Force; the Anne Arundel County Police Department; and the Annapolis Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney LaRai Everett, who is prosecuting the case.
This case is also part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
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For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psn and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.