WASHINGTON - Samuel Braxton, 57, aka "Fats," of Temple Hills, Maryland, was sentenced today to 162 months in federal prison for leading a drug trafficking organization that imported and distributed massive quantities of fentanyl, fentanyl analogue, and heroin in the Washington metropolitan area - all while he was incarcerated at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

Braxton pleaded guilty Dec. 8, 2025, before Judge Trevor N. McFadden to conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, 100 grams or more of a fentanyl analogue, and 100 grams or more of heroin. In addition to the prison term, Judge McFadden ordered Braxton to serve five years of supervised release.

"Braxton's criminal history spans 36 years and includes four drug trafficking convictions. In his latest offense, he orchestrated an international narcotics pipeline-all while inside a federal prison cell," said U.S. Attorney Pirro. "Now, Braxton will spend more than 13 additional years behind bars. Together with the DEA and our law enforcement partners, we will hold traffickers at every level of the production and distribution chain accountable."

According to court documents, Braxton was the top and unifying member of a drug trafficking conspiracy involving at least eight individuals that operated from at least July 2021 until November 2023.

Using a contraband cell phone from his housing unit at Fort Dix where he was serving a sentence for a prior federal drug conviction, Braxton brokered connections between foreign nationals who supplied kilogram quantities of fentanyl, fentanyl analogue, and heroin, and co-conspirators Wayne Glymph and Ronnie Rogers, who received, cut, repackaged, and redistributed the drugs throughout the Washington area. Court-authorized wiretaps were placed on Braxton's contraband phone, and the phone was ultimately seized from his housing unit by law enforcement during the investigation.

Braxton introduced Glymph to foreign drug suppliers and introduced Glymph to Rogers - a former prison acquaintance - for the purpose of acquiring and redistributing the imported narcotics. Braxton coordinated shipment tracking, communicated with suppliers about drug payments, and arranged for his share of the proceeds to be paid to his daughter. Wiretap recordings captured Braxton complaining to Rogers that Glymph was interfering with his cut of the drug proceeds, asking, "when's my allowance going to get like it's supposed to be?"

Over the course of the conspiracy, law enforcement intercepted communications between Braxton, Glymph, and Rogers coordinating the shipment of kilogram quantities of fentanyl and heroin to addresses in the Washington metropolitan area. Authorities seized or recovered more than 12 kilograms of fentanyl nearly two kilograms of a fentanyl analogue known as p-Fluorofentanyl, and more than 236 grams of heroin.

Individual seizures included parcels of about one kilo of fentanyl intercepted at a UPS facility in Landover, Maryland, after investigators tracked the shipments through wiretap intercepts. The drugs traveled from foreign sources through domestic shipping hubs in California, Texas, and Florida before reaching their destinations in the Washington area.

In November 2023, law enforcement executed search warrants at residences associated with Rogers and Glymph in the District, Charles County, Maryland, and District Heights, Maryland, seizing additional kilogram quantities of fentanyl and heroin.

Braxton's criminal history spans 36 years and includes four drug trafficking convictions, two of them federal. He and Glymph previously were convicted together in the District of Maryland of conspiracy to distribute heroin, cocaine base, and PCP, for which Braxton received a 24-year sentence. It was while serving that sentence that Braxton organized and directed the instant conspiracy.

Co-conspirators Wayne Glymph, 59, of Port Tobacco, Maryland, was sentenced Jan. 14, 2026, to 13½ years in federal prison. Michael Stewart, 61, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced Dec. 22, 2025, to 71 months in prison. Kevin Quattlebaum, 59, was sentenced Oct. 21, 2025, to 142 months in prison.

Ronnie Rogers, 71, who is scheduled for sentencing on March 31, faces a statutory mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to life. Michael Owens, 38, of St. Charles, Maryland, pleaded guilty Dec. 8, 2025; sentencing is scheduled for March 20, 2026.

Joining U.S. Attorney Pirro in the announcement were DEA Special Agent in Charge Christopher C. Goumenis of the Drug Enforcement Administration Washington Division, Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Darren B. Cox of the Washington Field Office, Chief Tarrick McGuire of the Alexandria Police Department, and Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll of the Metropolitan Police Department.

This case was investigated by the DEA Washington Division, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI Washington Field Office, the Alexandria Police Department, and the Metropolitan Police Department.

Valuable assistance was provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Washington Field Division, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, Montgomery County Police Department, Prince George's County Police Interdiction Unit, Charles County Sheriff's Office, Arlington County Police, Virginia State Police, Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland (Greenbelt), the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee.

The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys George Eliopoulos and Matthew Kinskey.

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