Final defendant in massive heroin trafficking group sentenced

Jerald Outten, 26, of Portsmouth, was sentenced Friday to 22 years in prison for his involvement in a heroin trafficking operation that was responsible for the distribution of between 30 and 90 kilograms of heroin with an estimated street value between $1.5 and $4.5 million dollars.

“The excellent coordination between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies was critical in dismantling this group and so many others like them in 2015,” said Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “This case, and the resources and collaborative efforts used to investigate and prosecute it, is a prime example of the level of commitment and determination we have to combat the heroin crisis in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

“This case demonstrates the severity and degree to which sophisticated drug operations try to profit off of the addiction, despair, and pain of others and threaten the safety of the communities where they operate,” said Mark R. Herring, Attorney General of Virginia. “This outcome demonstrates the power of collaboration and our combined resolve to fight the heroin epidemic that has affected so many people in our Commonwealth and throughout the country.”

Outten, along with six co-conspirators, were collectively sentenced to over 136 years in prison for their crimes. According to court documents, in the early morning hours of July 14, 2015, search warrants were executed simultaneously on 14 properties in Portsmouth, Chesapeake, and Suffolk, by more than 250 law enforcement officials from three states and the District of Columbia.

When Jerald Outten was arrested, police recovered a loaded handgun with a bullet in the chamber, $1,700 in cash, 135 grams of raw heroin, marijuana, and a cutting agent used to increase the volume and profitability of heroin.

According to court documents, Jerald Outten, brother of ring-leader Alonzo Outten, personally managed the wholesale distribution of over 24 kilograms of heroin during the course of the conspiracy. He was often observed with a firearm during drug transactions. Jerald and Alonzo were responsible for supplying drugs to two violent Bloods gangs, Gorilla Mafira Piru and Imperial Gangsta Bloods (IGB), both of which have been dismantled, prosecuted, and sentenced. The IGB in particular was responsible for a number of violent acts in Portsmouth in 2014, including at least two shooting incidents with a rival drug trafficking organization that left homes of innocent citizens riddled with bullets.

The IGB’s leader, Chris Smith, aka Killa, was sentenced to life in prison plus five years on Oct. 30, 2015. Gorilla Mafia Piru’s leader, Theodore Vann, aka Flatline, was sentenced to 16 years in prison Nov. 16, 2015.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Mark R. Herring, Attorney General of Virginia; and John S. Adams, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office and the Chesapeake Police Department with the assistance of the Portsmouth Police Department, the Virginia State Police, and NCIS. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney John F. Butler, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph E. DePadilla and Andrew C. Bosse prosecuted the case.