46-Month Sentence for Smuggling Switchblade, Fentanyl, and Phones into DC Jail while Awaiting Trial for Homicide

WASHINGTON - Darius Robertson, 32, of the District of Columbia, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 46-months in prison for orchestrating a scheme to smuggle weapons, fentanyl, and cell phones into the maximum-security Central Detention Facility (CDF) while he was awaiting trial for murder, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

Robertson pleaded guilty on June 23, 2025, before Judge Timothy J. Kelly to an Information charging him with conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States. Previously, on June 6, 2025, Robertson pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the October 2021 beating death of his cousin Andre Robertson. Sentencing on the voluntary manslaughter count is scheduled for November 7, 2025. The judge ruled that Robertson's sentence in this case will run consecutive to the ultimate sentence on the voluntary manslaughter count.

Joining in the announcement were Director Tom Faust of the D.C. Department of Corrections, FBI Special Agent in Charge Reid Davis of the Washington Field Office Criminal Division, and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

According to court documents, between December 2021 and July 2024, Robertson was being held in the facility, also known as the D.C. Jail, when he conspired with at two other detainees from the Clay Terrace neighborhood, two correctional officers, and two members of the community who delivered contraband to the jail.

Among the items the conspiracy attempted to smuggle into the CDF in February 2024 were one switchblade knife; an Apple iPhone and USB iPhone charger; two pairs of eyeglasses; a bundle of marijuana; tobacco; rolling papers; gambling dice; three sheets of bonded paper that were damp and contained a synthetic cannabinoid, MDMB-4en-PINACA-a Schedule I Controlled Substance; two plastic-wrapped packages of marijuana; and five individually wrapped packages containing approximately 100 cigarettes.

Following a series of smuggling incidents in July 2024, the Department of Corrections conducted a search for contraband and seized 269 blue pills which tested positive for fentanyl; 60 cigarettes soaked in an unknown liquid, 255 suboxone strips seven pieces of paper soaked in an unknown liquid; three cell phones; and a number of cigarettes.

Co-defendants who have pleaded guilty include LaTara Brown, 31, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, Kiya Holland, 33, of Oxon Hill, Maryland, Marcel Vines, 28, of Washington, D.C., and Stefon Freshley, 28 of Washington, D.C.

Vines was sentenced on March 7 to life plus 60 years in prison for the kidnappings and murders of two innocent victims in retaliation for a slaying in which the victims were not involved. On August 13, Vines was sentenced to an additional 46 months for his role in the smuggling scheme..

This case was investigated by the FBI's Washington Field Office, the D.C. Department of Corrections Office of Investigative Services, and the Metropolitan Police Department, with the assistance of the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Gold and Sarah Santiago.

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