WASHINGTON – In a blow to a large-scale narcotics conspiracy, two Washington D.C. men, Mario Ernesto Benitez, 29, and Diamante Markell Hall, 29, were sentenced to 10 years in prison for their roles in trafficking kilogram quantities of fentanyl from Southern California to the metropolitan region.
The sentences were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, DEA Special Agent in Charge Jarod A. Forget of the Washington Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Inspector in Charge Damon Wood, of the United States Postal Inspection Service Washington Division, and Colonel Gary T. Settle, Superintendent of the Virginia State Police.
Benitez, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and cocaine on January 11, 2024, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich, who also ordered Benitez to serve five years of supervised release on completion of the prison term.
Hall, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Judge Friedrich, who also ordered Hall to serve five years of supervised release.
According to court documents, Benitez admitted to trafficking more than three kilograms of a mixture of substance containing fentanyl and 217 grams of cocaine from December 2022 until his arrest in May 2023. Hall admitted to trafficking nearly six kilograms of fentanyl to the metro area in the span of a few months.
On December 13, 2022, two packages were shipped at the same time from a facility in Monterrey Park, California, to the Washington, D.C. area. Both packages were addressed to “Martes Benito,” on the 700 block of Congress Street, S.E. The shipper opened the first package pursuant to their own policies as the package was deemed suspicious by its employees. Virginia State Police and the DEA recovered approximately 700 grams of fentanyl pills and 200 grams of cocaine from the first package.
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Key Facts
- State: Washington DC
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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