Baltimore Drug Dealer Pleads Guilty to Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking

Baltimore, Maryland - Daniel Taylor, age 36, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty yesterday to possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

The plea was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Special Agent in Charge Timothy Jones of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; and Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department.

According to his plea agreement, from June 2020 to August 2020, Taylor conspired with others to distribute quantities of cocaine in Baltimore. For example, on June 26, 2020 Taylor spoke with an inmate on a recorded line. During the conversation the inmate asked Taylor where he was located and Taylor stated, 'the block,' a term used to refer to an area in which narcotics are sold. Later in the conversation, Taylor stated the 'girl' was the only thing that was 'moving,' meaning that Taylor was trafficking narcotics and cocaine was making the most money. The term 'girl' is used to refer to cocaine.

On August 20, 2020, the ATF executed a search warrant at Taylor's Baltimore residence where law enforcement recovered a 12-gauge shotgun, five rounds of 12-gauge ammunition, and two rounds of 12-gauge shotgun slugs. Taylor admitted that he possessed the firearm in furtherance of the cocaine distribution conspiracy.

Taylor and the government have agreed that, if the Court accepts the plea, Taylor will be sentenced to eight years in federal prison for possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett has scheduled sentencing for May 20, 2021 at 2 p.m.

Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner praised the ATF and Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Lenzner thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary Stendig and Lindsey McCulley who prosecuted the case.

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