Portsmouth Heroin Ring: 5 Guilty in Fentanyl Trafficking

Nathaniel Powell, 33, Ernest Cross, 38, Detuan Gordon, 25, Valerie Wilson, 55, and Marque Wilson, 33—all of Portsmouth—have pleaded guilty to charges tied to a violent, long-running heroin and fentanyl trafficking conspiracy that flooded Hampton Roads and stretched into North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

From March 2012 through July 2016, the crew conspired to distribute more than 1,000 grams of heroin, sourced from Baltimore. The drugs were transported to Virginia, repackaged using a hydraulic press and gel capsules, and sold at the street level. The organization also served as a supply chain for dealers in the Outer Banks, expanding their criminal reach beyond state lines.

On December 22, 2015, a raid on Detuan Gordon’s residence uncovered opiates, scales, drug paraphernalia, and firearms. A convicted felon, Gordon possessed an AK-47–style rifle and a Taurus handgun. When arrested on June 8, police seized nearly $50,000 in cash, a firearm, heroin, and fentanyl. Valerie Wilson was arrested days earlier in Moyock, North Carolina, after selling five grams of heroin—with her six-year-old grandson in the vehicle.

Two members led police on dangerous pursuits. Marque Wilson, carrying heroin and cocaine, tried to elude officers on June 10 before capture. Nathaniel Powell, a paraplegic from a prior shooting, used a cane to drive during a high-speed chase through Portsmouth’s residential streets—crashing into another vehicle. Seven grams of fentanyl were found on Powell after the crash. He later threatened to kill someone he believed had cooperated with police.

The group was indicted on July 20 on a 20-count federal indictment, including Conspiracy to Manufacture, Distribute, and Possess with Intent to Distribute Heroin, Distribution of Heroin and Fentanyl, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, and Possession of Firearms in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime. Gordon faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to life. Cross and Powell face five-year mandatory minimums and up to 40 years. The Wilsons each face up to 20 years.

Guilty pleas were entered on separate dates: Valerie Wilson on September 16; Gordon on September 20; Cross on September 23; Marque Wilson on October 18; and Powell on October 20. Sentencing is scheduled through January 27, 2017. The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney John F. Butler and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph E. DePadilla and Andrew C. Bosse. The announcement was made by Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and law enforcement leaders from the DEA, Chesapeake, and Portsmouth police departments.