Jury Convicts D.C. Fentanyl Dealer on Multiple Firearms and Narcotics Counts (DOJ)

WASHINGTON - Derrick Thomas Martin, 33, a previously convicted felon residing in the District of Columbia, was convicted yesterday by a federal jury in the U.S. District Court on four federal charges stemming from his 2024 arrest before which he flung a backpack containing a loaded firearm and substantial quantities of cocaine and fentanyl from an apartment building window, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

The jury deliberated for less than one day before finding Martin guilty of possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of a fentanyl analogue, of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and of possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking offense.

"Derrick Martin stashed large quantities of drugs and cash in an apartment where a child slept just feet from a loaded, micro draco pistol, a gun that fired the same bullets as an AK-47 assault rifle," said U.S. Attorney Pirro. "With 31 prior arrests, this career criminal posed a clear danger to our community. The streets are safer now that we have put an end to this one-man crime spree."

Sentencing is scheduled for July 10, 2026, before United States District Judge Trevor N. McFadden. Martin faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.

According to the evidence presented at trial, members of the Metropolitan Police Department's Criminal Apprehension Unit went to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue SE on Nov. 25, 2024, to arrest Martin on an outstanding warrant from Cecil County, Maryland. Martin had failed to appear for trial on charges of illegal firearm possession and drug distribution.

As officers knocked at the apartment door, Martin opened a window and threw a black backpack onto the street below. Police recovered the bag which was found to contain a loaded Century Arms Micro Draco semi-automatic pistol, about 700 grams of cocaine, and over 5,700 fentanyl pills.

Officers entered the apartment. Following a struggle, they arrested Martin. A search of the apartment yielded a second loaded firearm - a Glock 19 pistol that had been illegally modified and bore two different serial numbers - along with additional ammunition, about 150 grams of suspected heroin, additional suspected fentanyl pills, a digital scale, and a cash counting machine.

Police discovered nearly $12,000, much of which was inside the apartment's washing machine. Martin's four-year-old child was present in the dwelling at the time of the arrest.

Martin, who has been arrested 31 times, previously was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm (prior conviction) and sentenced in 2017 to 730 days imprisonment, with 364 days suspended, and placed on supervised probation for one year. Additionally, Martin was found guilty in 2017 of grand larceny in Arlington, Virginia and sentenced to three years in prison.

When he was arrested on Nov. 25, 2024, on the Cecil County warrant for failing to appear for trial, he had been charged with conspiracy (multiple counts), possession with intent to distribute (multiple counts), possession (multiple counts), possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle, and illegal possession of a firearm.

This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Washington Field Office, and the DEA Washington Division Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin A. Helfand and Michael Lee.

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