Father and Son Fentanyl Dealers Who Operated on Yuma Street Sentenced to Federal Prison Terms

WASHINGTON - Alphonso Lorenzo Murray, 50, and Marquete Alonzo Murray, 31, both of Washington D.C., were sentenced today in U.S. District Court for participating in an open-air narcotics market operating on the 100 block of Yuma Street, in Southeast.

The sentencings were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Special Agent in Charge Derek W. Gordon of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington Field Office, Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division, and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols sentenced Alphonso Murray today to 45 months in prison and ordered him to serve three years of supervised release. Alphonso Murray pleaded guilty May 28, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and crack cocaine. In his plea agreement, Alphonso Murray acknowledged that he was accountable for distributing 42.179 grams of fentanyl, 15.87 grams of fentanyl analogue, and 5.67 grams of crack cocaine.

Judge Nichols sentenced Marquete Murray to 60 months and prison and ordered him to serve five years of supervised release. Marquete Murray, Alphonso's son, pleaded guilty May 28, 2024, to possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking offense. Marquete Murray acknowledged that law enforcement recovered weapons from his home in Northeast on two occasions. On July 19, 2023, HSI agents seized a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson with an obliterated serial number loaded with 13 rounds ammunition and an additional 37 rounds of ammo. On December 6, 2023, HSI agents recovered a Glock pistol with a 17-round magazine.

According to court documents, law enforcement began an investigation into an open-air drug market in December 2022, operating around the 100 block of Yuma Street Southeast. Agents identified several men who worked together to distribute a variety of drugs. On August 9, 2023, an HSI undercover bought 9.03 grams of fentanyl pre-packaged into 60 plastic bags from Marquete Murray who was assisted in the sale by his father. On September 21, 2023, an undercover officer from the MPD bought 10 grams of fentanyl in 56 small bags from Alphonso Murray. On October 5, 2023, the MPD undercover bought an additional 15.87 grams of fentanyl from Alphonso Murray.

On November 29, 2023, HSI agents arrested Alphonso Murray at his home on the 200 block of Adams Street, NE, where they also recovered 5.67 grams of crack cocaine. On December 6, 2023, HSI agents arrested Marquete Murray at his apartment on the 700 block of Kenilworth Ave. NE.

The arrests were part of a year-long Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation that resulted in many more prosecutions of fentanyl dealers in and around the Washington Highlands neighborhood of Southeast Washington, D.C. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

This case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations Washington Field Office, U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division, the U.S. Marshals Service, and MPD's Violent Crime Suppression Division.

It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Will Hart and Andrea Duvall and former Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Javier Urbina and Jordan Leiter from the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.

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