A D.C. government employee was charged Wednesday with dealing fentanyl outside his Southwest office building.
Darrell Marcellus Pope, a staff member at the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, is charged with conspiracy to distribute at least 40 grams of a mixture containing fentanyl, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday.
Pope allegedly dealt the drugs just outside DCRA headquarters at 1100 4th Street SW, within 1,000 feet of Amidon-Bowen Elementary School. The mayor’s office confirmed the DCRA placed Pope on administrative leave.
Court documents indicate federal agents and Prince William County police had been looking into Pope since March. Pope was being investigated as a suspect in a network of heroin and fentanyl dealers based in Woodbridge, Virginia.
During the course of the investigation, the complaint said Pope was followed to the Southwest neighborhood where he worked and recorded selling drugs to an undercover agent and an informant nine times over the course of the summer.
Together they purchased a total of 87 grams during those nine transactions — a total value of $8,700 — according to charging documents.
During a controlled buy on Sept. 18, during which Pope sold 30 grams of heroin/fentanyl, the agent reported noticing Pope was carrying a compact model Glock pistol — commonly called a “baby Glock”– in his left pocket.
The complaint said a search of Pope’s home in Clinton, Maryland, and his workspace at DCRA found additional quantities of fentanyl, a scale and three firearms.
The complaint said Pope identified another man, Ronald Maxwell Gorham, as his supplier. Gorham, of D.C., is facing similar charges.
Both Pope and Gorham are being held in federal custody and are scheduled for a second appearance at U.S. District Court in Alexandria on Friday.
