James Henry Roberts, Murder and Drug Distribution, Maryland 2024

Baltimore man James Henry Roberts, aka ‘Bub,’ has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for his involvement in a racketeering conspiracy, including murder and a drug distribution conspiracy. Roberts, 33, was a member of the Southwest Baltimore ‘NFL’ gang, which operated in the Edmondson Village area.

According to court documents, Roberts participated in the NFL gang’s illegal activities, including distributing large quantities of heroin and cocaine to customers and re-distributors in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. He admitted to obtaining narcotics from multiple sources and storing them in stash houses controlled by the NFL gang.

Over the course of the conspiracy, Roberts and his co-conspirators distributed over one kilogram of heroin and more than 280 grams of cocaine base. Roberts also paid members and associates of the NFL gang to commit multiple murders on behalf of the enterprise.

One of the murders was that of Victim 1, who Roberts believed was cooperating with law enforcement. On June 16, 2018, an NFL gang member murdered Victim 1 and a bystander, Victim 2. Shortly after the murders, Roberts paid the killer with money from another NFL-related enterprise.

Roberts also recruited two NFL gang members to murder Victim 3, who was shot and killed on October 31, 2018. The two gang members then notified Roberts of the murder.

More than 30 defendants in this and related cases have pleaded guilty and been sentenced to between 30 years and time served. The case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, which identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States.

The case is also part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer. Through PSN, law enforcement agencies focus enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partner with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

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