Feds: Cocaine Kingpin Keith Pyndell sent to Federal prison for 15 years

Cocaine Kingpin Keith Pyndell sent to Federal prison for 15 years

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Federal prosecutors report that Keith Pyndell, 34, of 126 Irvington Street, S.W., Washington, D.C., was sentenced on July 10, 2015 to 186 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute 280 grams or more of cocaine base, aka crack cocaine, and for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. In connection with this conviction, Pyndell forfeited $47,200 in cash that was seized from his residence by the DEA.

Pyndell pleaded guilty on March 16, 2015.  According to court documents, Pyndell ran an organization that distributed over 280 grams of cocaine base to customers in Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C.  Through his organization, Pyndell employed individuals as runners to deliver drugs to his customers and to return cash to him.  One of those individuals, Angela Lemons, previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute cocaine base and was sentenced to serve 40 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.  Pyndell admitted that a handgun with an obliterated serial number that was seized from his residence was used for protection in connection with his drug trafficking.

In Montgomery County, Md. District Court on Jan. 27, 2005, Pyndell entered a guilty plea in a deal with the States Attorney and was sentenced to one year in jail on an assault charge with 361 days suspended and credit for 4 days’ time served. As yet another case of Maryland Public Defenders giving representation to drug dealers, Pyndell was represented by the Public Defender’s Office in Rockville, a taxpayer provided service intended to give legal representation to the poor.

The Maryland Public Defender’s Office represented Pyndell in cocaine distribution charges placed against him in Prince Georges County Circuit Court on Oct. 22, 1996. On Feb. 11, 1997, Pyndell struck a deal with prosecutors which resulted in him pleading guilty to dealing cocaine and landed him in the Maryland Prison System for three years. Other charges were dropped as part of the plea deal.

COUNT 1 FOR A PERIOD OF; 3 YEARS. SENTENCE TO COMMENCE AS OF 9 11 96.; 153 DAYS CREDIT GIVEN. ALL BUT 18 MONTHS SUS-; PENDED AND SUPERVISED PROBATION FOR 2 YEARS.; DEFENDANT DEEMED INDIGENT; ORDER FOR PROBATION, FILED; NOLLE PROS REMAINING COUNTS; ANY BENCH WARRANTS RECALLED; WITHIN 60 DAYS OF RELEASE COMPLETE SASOE PROGRAM

As this is Maryland, where a sentence is only as good as how the goofy Judge feels on a particular day, the Public Defender filed a motion to reconsider the sentence two weeks later.  A Judge, with the public gone and reporters not present, can adjust the stern sentence he or she might have handed down in open court. In this case, Pyndell got the wrong Judge, who on March 13, 1997, denied the request to reconsider the sentence.  Court records show that as of Oct. 6, 1998 Pyndell was still a guest of the taxpayers at the state prison.

With this new federal case against, him the United States District Court Federal Probation System asked for copies of the case file as part of making a recommendation to the Federal Judge who now made sure that Pyndell graduated from the Maryland minor leagues to the Big House of the Feds.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Karl C. Colder, Special Agent in Charge for DEA’s Washington Field Division, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga. Assistant U.S. Attorney Whitney Dougherty Russell is prosecuting the case.

The case was investigated by the DEA’s Washington Office as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).  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.