Previously Convicted Felon Sentenced for Federal Firearm and Narcotics Trafficking Offenses

Baltimore, Maryland - Judge Brendan A. Hurson sentenced Hugh Emerson Berry, Jr., 41, of Hagerstown, Maryland, to 78 months in federal prison for his role in a narcotics and firearm trafficking network. In January 2025, Berry pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine along with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); Special Agent in Charge Michael S. McCarthy, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Frederick; Postal Inspector in Charge Damon Wood, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) - Washington Division; Roland L. Butler, Jr. Superintendent, Maryland State Police (MSP); and Colonel Paul Joey Kifer, Chief of Police, Hagerstown Police Department (HPD).

In May 2023, the ATF, HSI, and MSP began investigating a drug and firearm trafficking network spanning the mid-Atlantic of the United States. During the investigation, ATF, HSI, and MSP investigators discovered that Berry and his co-conspirators were selling both illegal narcotics and firearms throughout Maryland. Additionally, the ATF used an undercover investigator to participate in multiple controlled drug purchases. The drugs included heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine aka "crystal meth." Berry, a convicted felon who cannot possess firearms or ammunition, also offered firearms and a machine-gun conversion device.

Between May and October 2023 - over the course of approximately 10 meetings - Berry sold an undercover detective heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine. The defendant also sold an undercover detective numerous firearms, including eight polymer 80 firearms aka "Ghost Guns," three firearm magazines, and a machine-gun conversion device.

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.

This case is part of a Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. The specific mission of the Baltimore Strike Force is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle violent drug trafficking, money laundering, and transnational criminal organizations to reduce drug-related and/or gang violence in the Baltimore metropolitan and surrounding areas. The Baltimore Strike Force is comprised of agents and officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, the United States Marshals Service, the United States Secret Service, United States Postal Inspection Service, the Maryland State Police, the Baltimore Police Department, the Baltimore Sheriff's Office, the Baltimore County Police Department, the Maryland Transportation Authority, and the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. The prosecution is being led by the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the ATF, HSI, USPIS, MSP Criminal Enforcement Division, and HPD for their work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Simpkins who prosecuted the case.

For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office, its priorities, and resources available to report fraud, visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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