ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Hameed Jide Bello, 38, of Fort Washington, Maryland, was sentenced today to seven years in prison for conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.
Bello pleaded guilty on Nov. 17, 2016. According to court documents, Bello sold cocaine from May 2015 until his arrest in July 2016 while attempting to sell four ounces of cocaine. During much of that time, Bello regularly sold cocaine in amounts ranging from one ounce to one kilogram to Cristan Taylor of Springfield, who will be sentenced on March 3. Taylor would then redistribute the cocaine to others in Fairfax County and elsewhere.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Karl C. Colder, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division; and Andrew W. Vale, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carina A. Cuellar prosecuted the case.
The case was investigated by the FBI and DEA as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), Operation Fifty Pounder. The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:16-cr-219.