Baltimore, Maryland – A federal jury has found Rodney Gaines, 35, of Westminster, Maryland, guilty of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base and to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, and two counts of distribution of cocaine.
Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the verdict with Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – Baltimore Field Office; Colonel Roland L. Butler, Jr. Superintendent, Maryland State Police (MDSP); Sheriff James T. DeWees, Carroll County Sheriff’s Office; and Chief Thomas Ledwell, Westminster Police Department.
During the two-and-a-half-week trial, the Government presented evidence of Gaines’s cocaine and crack-cocaine distribution activities in Westminster, Maryland. Investigative methods included wiretaps, initially approved in state court and later federal court, in which law enforcement recorded and monitored Gaines’s phone conversations and text messages.
Wiretapped calls revealed Gaines arranging sales of cocaine to various customers. During the conversations, the cocaine was referred to in coded phrases such as “powder,” “8-balls,” “balls,” and the “sister,” among other terms. Law enforcement also seized quantities of cocaine from Gaines’s customers after sales were conducted.
The wiretaps also showed that Gaines sold cocaine in conspiracy with numerous accomplices, including people who he directed to deliver cocaine to customers; prepared the crack cocaine by “cooking” powder cocaine into crack; and hid drugs at various locations including burying the drugs in wooded areas around Westminster. Near the end of the investigation, law enforcement recovered more than $250,000 in cash in apparent drug proceeds from a storage unit that was acquired by another member of the conspiracy. The jury found that the conspiracy involved 280 grams or more of cocaine base.
Evidence at trial also proved that Gaines’s activities and the activities of his conspiracy involved firearms. During late January 2022, the wiretap showed that Gaines attempted to acquire two firearms — a 9mm handgun and a 40-caliber handgun — from an accomplice. However, law enforcement intercepted the firearms, along with ammunition and ammunition clips, from the accomplice before the guns found their way to Gaines.
Gaines is facing up to life imprisonment with a mandatory minimum term of 10 years for the narcotics conspiracy offense. The other counts are each punishable by up to 20 years.
Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge determines sentencing after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the FBI, MDSP, Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, and Westminster Police Department for their work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys LaRai N. Everett and Michael C. Hanlon who are prosecuting the federal case.
For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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