WASHINGTON — Five individuals have pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle fentanyl, cell phones, and a knife into the D.C. Jail, where inmates were awaiting trial for murder and assault with intent to kill, federal prosecutors announced Friday.
LaTara Brown, 31, of Capitol Heights; Kiya Holland, 33, of Oxon Hill; Darius Robertson, 31; Marcel Vines, 28; and Stefon Freshley, 28, all of Washington, D.C., admitted to roles in the scheme. All five entered guilty pleas in U.S. District Court.
According to court filings, Holland and Brown packaged the contraband into Tupperware containers and arranged for them to be delivered to the Central Detention Facility, commonly known as the D.C. Jail. Inside, Robertson, Vines, and Freshley—then inmates—received the items from corrections staff, including Officer Rashaad Roper, 45, of Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Roper has not pleaded guilty and is scheduled to stand trial.
The conspiracy was detailed in a November 2024 indictment and involved trafficking of controlled substances including fentanyl, as well as the introduction of a knife and mobile phones into the jail population.
All five defendants face up to five years in prison. Sentencing hearings are scheduled between August and October before U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly.