No more life of luxury: Richmond drug kingpin to serve 15 years behind bars

A large-scale drug trafficking organization in Richmond and Petersburg has been effectively shut down as the leader was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Friday.

Curtis James Dickerson, 55, of North Chesterfield, was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and fentanyl and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Dickerson was arrested after a two-year police sting where dealers led police to their supplier, Dickerson. Police obtained a search warrant for Dickerson’s home and found distribution quantities of drugs, multiple cell phones, expensive jewelry and multiple high-end vehicles.

Dickerson has two prior drug trafficking convictions, including a prior federal conviction in the Eastern District of Virginia for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

As a previously convicted felon, Dickerson cannot legally possess a firearm or ammunition.

According to court records, law enforcement agencies began investigating the drug trafficking organization in 2020.

Law enforcement conducted controlled purchases of cocaine, fentanyl and heroin from conspirators who were also charged and convicted of narcotics trafficking.

Dickerson was the leader of this large-scale drug trafficking organization and was responsible for conspiring to distribute and distributing 40 kilograms of heroin, 40 kilograms of fentanyl and 10 kilograms of cocaine in the two years leading up to his arrest.

He also maintained premises specifically for drug packaging and distribution.

When Dickerson’s home was searched in 2022,

In September 2022, investigators searched one of Dickerson’s residences and recovered industrial mixers with cocaine residue, digital scales, money counters, respirators that are worn while packaging fentanyl, a hydraulic press used to repackage narcotics, gloves with fentanyl residue, seven cellphones, a satellite phone, jewelry and multiple high-end vehicles.

Investigators also recovered a .223 caliber semiautomatic handgun along with two 30-round magazines, a 45-round magazine and assorted ammunition from a safe hidden inside a wall in Dickerson’s bedroom.