Press Release
Eleven members of deadly drug trafficking organization sentenced to prison
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Virginia
NORFOLK, Va. – Eleven Virginia residents have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a violent drug trafficking organization that was responsible for a double homicide in Chesapeake. A twelfth defendant is awaiting sentencing.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, between January 2020 and November 2022, Cortney Allen Conley, aka KO, 36, of Virginia Beach, ran a large-scale, violent interstate drug trafficking organization principally based in the Hampton Roads area. The organization frequently sold drugs at “pop-up” shops, which regularly appeared in new locations to avoid detection by law enforcement.
In 2021, Conley was robbed at gunpoint at a pop-up on Providence Road in Chesapeake, after which Conley and his co-conspirators were regularly armed while they trafficked drugs. In July 2021, an armed robber attempted to rob a pop-up, and shop workers, including Javaid Akhtar Reed, 27, of Chesapeake, and Aaron Butler Hunter, 38, of Virginia Beach, defended Conley’s drugs and drug proceeds. During the attempted robbery, Reed ordered the attempted robber out of the shop at gunpoint.
On May 13, 2022, two armed subjects attempted to rob the organization’s pop-up on Wintercress Way in Chesapeake. Conley and Rashaun Marcquez Johnson, 28, of Virginia Beach, shot and killed the two subjects. During the gun battle, Davian Marcelis Jenkins, 27, of Suffolk, pistol-whipped one of the subjects as the subject lay dying in the foyer. During the shootout, bullets flew across the hall into another apartment and hit a child’s play kitchen. Immediately afterward, Conley and Jenkins removed controlled substances, drug proceeds, and firearms from the pop-up and fled. Conley directed Jenkins to go back to the shooting scene and remove security cameras, which had recorded the shootout. Jenkins removed one camera from the front door of the apartment. Conley then fled the state.
On Nov. 8, 2022, Conley was arrested in Virginia Beach at a pop-up he established after the double homicide. During the arrest, Conley jumped from a second story window and tried to run from the police.
On April 15, 2024, after a ten day jury trial, Conley, Reed, and Kyron Speller, 29, of Norfolk, were convicted for their involvement in the organization.
Conley was convicted of continuing criminal enterprise; possession with intent to distribute marijuana; possession with intent to distribute psilocybin and psilocyn; possessing, brandishing, and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Conley was sentenced today to 40 years in prison.
Other members of the organization who were sentenced include:
Name | Date of Sentencing | Sentence Imposed |
Javaid Akhtar Reed | Dec. 23, 2024 | 14 years, 3 months |
Corey Melic Blackwell | July 12, 2024 | 13 years |
Aaron Hunter | Sept. 26, 2024 | 10 years |
Kasheim Bryant | Oct. 31, 2024 | 7 years |
Amadeo Ilan Classen | Nov. 7, 2024 | 10 years |
Davian Marcelis Jenkins | Nov. 7, 2024 | 4 years |
Jeron D’Nell Cephus | July 22, 2024 | 3 years, 6 months |
Kyron Speller | Oct. 25, 2024 | 3 years, 5 months |
Lateya Conley | Sept. 25, 2024 | 3 years |
Jasmine Deneen Cuffee | Oct. 31, 2024 | 1 year, 3 months |
Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 21, 2025.
Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Michael Feinberg, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; Damon E. Wood, Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Mark G. Solesky, Chief of Chesapeake Police; and Paul Neudigate, Chief of Virginia Beach Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Megan M. Montoya, Joe DePadilla, and Luke Bresnahan prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:22-cr-147.
Contact
Press Officer
USAVAE.Press@usdoj.gov
Updated January 30, 2025
Topics
Drug Trafficking
Firearms Offenses
Violent Crime