Tiba Sakuri Conley, Drug Trafficking, Maryland 2020

Ellicott City Man Convicted of Drug Trafficking

GREENBELT, Maryland – In a four-day trial that ended on September 25, 2020, a federal jury convicted Tiba Sakuri Conley, age 31, of Ellicott City, Maryland, on federal drug distribution and firearms charges.

The conviction was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Jennifer C. Boone of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Chief Lisa D. Myers of the Howard County Police Department; Interim Chief Hector Velez of the Prince George’s County Police Department; and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha N. Braveboy.

According to the evidence presented at trial, on April 21, 2016, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Conley’s residence in Ellicott City, Maryland. When law enforcement entered his residence, Conley was in the kitchen with bags of 70 grams of crack cocaine and 72 grams of powder cocaine, as well as a loaded .45 caliber pistol on the kitchen counters on either side of him.

The evidence showed that Conley was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition as a result of a previous felony conviction. Conley also possessed another .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol, a 5.56x45 millimeter semi-automatic rifle, and a 7.62x39 millimeter semi-automatic rifle, with almost 200 rounds of ammunition recovered from the residence—much of it loaded into large capacity magazines for the rifles.

Conley faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 60 months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute over 28 grams of cocaine base; a consecutive mandatory minimum sentence of 60 months in federal prison for possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte has scheduled sentencing for January 7, 2021 at 11:00 a.m.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/ellicott-city-drug-trafficker-convicted-after-trial-federal-court-possessing-narcotics