10/31/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/31/2024 14:13
A high-volume drug trafficker operating out of a Dallas motel room pleaded guilty today to federal drug and gun charges, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.
Kenan Bernard Allen, aka "King," 38, was charged via criminal complaint in April 2023 and indicted the following month. He pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
"Mr. Allen and other violent drug traffickers dispersed huge quantities of deadly drugs and assaulted their customers. They preyed on users' crippling addictions, raking in money hand over fist," said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton. "The U.S. Attorney's Office and our law enforcement partners will not stop until we rid the streets of those that prey upon the vulnerable in our communities."
According to court documents, Mr. Allen and several coconspirators operated a trap room at a Dallas motel, where they cut, packaged, and distributed large quantities of fentanyl, heroin, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, and other drugs. At least eight defendants later admitted the motel was a location for habitual criminal activity.
Customers seeking drugs were let into the room by a doorman and instructed to place an order behind the service station. Customers often smoked or ingested the drugs inside the hotel room after making their purchase. The coconspirators armed themselves with handguns and AK-47 style rifles and installed security cameras inside the motel to monitor for law enforcement and to prevent workers from stealing drugs. Law enforcement agents conducting surveillance observed children as young as three years old coming in and out of the trap rooms in the motel, and images of young children were seen on video surveillance footage in the trap rooms where powdered fentanyl was being placed into capsules by workers and then sold to customers.
According to court documents, the motel was the site of frequent violence. On one occasion, Mr. Allen and several coconspirators restrained a victim in the breezeway of a hotel and used a broom handle and a trash can to strike the victim in the face and body. On another occasion, Mr. Allen and a coconspirator violently attacked a victim in the parking lot. On a third occasion, a codefendant used a handgun to pistol-whip a victim while Mr. Allen looked on. And on a fourth occasion, a coconspirator used a lighter to burn the foot of a female customer who had passed out after ingesting drugs she purchased in the room. All of the assaults were caught on video.
On April 19, 2023, law enforcement executed a search warrant inside two trap rooms inside the motel: Mr. Allen's trap room, no 222, and another trap room, no 111, where they saw drugs in plain view. In total, law enforcement agents recovered more than two kilograms of methamphetamine, 108 grams of fentanyl, 198 grams of heroin, 168 grams of cocaine, 1,183 grams of marijuana, 44.8 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, 23 grams of hydrocodone, 6 grams of morphine, 15 grams of alprazolam, 2.6 grams of PCP, seven handguns, and an AK-47 style rifle, along with a ballistic vest and multiple drug scales.
Mr. Allen now faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a $5 million fine. His sentencing is set for March 7, 2025.
To date, six other defendants have pleaded guilty in the case, including Brandon Demonte Jones, aka "Money," Jaleel Javeirre Jaquan Peterson, Glenn Malcom Blair, aka "Slim," Corey Lanard Allen, Jr, Derrick Alan Richardson, and Antoine Marquin Thompson-Steven. A seventh defendant, and Kenneth Ray Peters, aka "Fat Boy," has filed plea papers signaling his intent to plead guilty. The final defendant, Orlando Keith Spells, aka "Kilo," is set for trial on January 6, 2025. (Mr. Spells is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.)
The Texas Department of Public Safety and Dallas Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Calvert is prosecuting the case.
Erin Dooley
Press Officer
214-659-8707
[email protected]