WASHINGTON – In a devastating case of deadly deceit, 33-year-old Jevaughn Mark, aka "Ledo," has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for running a prolific drug delivery service in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. Mark’s operation resulted in the deaths of two men, Brandon Román and Robert Barletta, who unwittingly purchased fentanyl disguised as ketamine.
On December 26, 2023, Mark sold 3.5 grams of "raw" cocaine and three grams of "ketamine" to Román. However, the "ketamine" Mark sold contained no actual ketamine; instead, it consisted of fentanyl, xylazine, and caffeine. Román and his friend, Barletta, were found unresponsive the next day.
The DEA tested the leftover "ketamine" found at the scene and confirmed it to be fentanyl, xylazine, and caffeine. Investigators recovered text messages that led them directly to Mark. Between January 10, 2024, and March 13, 2024, undercover officers from MPD and DEA made six controlled purchases of approximately 127 grams of fentanyl and 18 grams of cocaine. Each time the undercover officer asked to purchase ketamine, Mark provided fentanyl.
Mark, who pleaded guilty on March 14, 2025, before U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, accepted responsibility for causing the deaths of Román and Barletta. In addition to the 15-year prison sentence, Judge Chutkan ordered Mark to serve five years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro condemned Mark’s actions, stating, "This defendant peddled poisonous drugs, marketed as ketamine but containing fentanyl, to unsuspecting people and, when challenged by multiple customers, he disregarded the alarms they sounded and continued to sell the same product." DEA Special Agent in Charge Ibrar A. Mian added, "Criminals like Jevaughn Mark pose a deadly threat by selling drugs with fentanyl, which users unknowingly consume, often leading to their deaths."
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Key Facts
- State: Washington DC
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime|Cybercrime|Public Corruption|Weapons|Human Trafficking|White Collar Crime|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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