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WASHINGTON — A previously convicted felon who supplied wholesale quantities of phencyclidine to a large-scale drug trafficking operation in Southeast Washington has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
Darryl Dacota Riley Jr., 40, also known as “Slice,” received the 120-month sentence Thursday in U.S. District Court for his role in a conspiracy involving PCP, cocaine and fentanyl.
U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly also ordered Riley to serve five years of supervised release after completing his prison term. Federal prosecutors had requested a sentence of 121 months in prison followed by the same period of supervised release.
Riley pleaded guilty before Judge Kelly on February 12, 2026, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of phencyclidine, 500 grams or more of cocaine and 40 grams or more of fentanyl. He also pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
“Riley wasn’t just selling drugs in the summer of 2024, he was pumping lethal substances into a neighborhood already reeling from violence and daily fear,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. “His operation sat at the center of a zone where families were living through murders, armed assaults, robberies, and break-ins within steps of his stash house.”
“This sentence delivers accountability for the violence his trafficking fueled, the fentanyl and PCP he chose to sell, and the firearms he kept ready to defend his profit. To every parent and resident of D.C.: we have your back. Drug traffickers will be caught, charged, and face federal prison time,” Pirro added.
According to court documents, FBI agents began a long-term investigation during the summer of 2024 into a drug trafficking conspiracy operating around the 2900 block of Knox Place SE.
Law enforcement had identified a suspected fentanyl and PCP trafficker operating in that area. As agents examined the sources supplying narcotics to the organization, they determined that Riley was conspiring with members of the operation to redistribute PCP, cocaine, fentanyl and other controlled substances.
Court records identified the Knox Place location as the conspiracy’s primary stash site. During the period covered by the conspiracy, five homicides, 17 assaults with dangerous weapons, five robberies and eight burglaries occurred within 1,000 feet of that location.
Those crime figures describe the violence documented around the conspiracy’s primary operating area. Riley’s federal convictions resulted from his participation in the drug conspiracy and his unlawful firearm possession.
From July 2024 until his arrest in August 2025, Riley operated as a wholesale PCP supplier for a co-defendant who redistributed narcotics from the 2900 block of Knox Place SE.
Riley repeatedly supplied bulk quantities of liquid PCP for further distribution. He sometimes traveled to Knox Place to deliver the drugs personally. During intercepted telephone calls, Riley referred to the liquid PCP as “Deer Park.”
The investigation continued for more than a year before FBI agents executed a federal search warrant at Riley’s residence in the 1900 block of Naylor Road SE on August 26, 2025.
During the search, agents recovered more than 930 grams of cocaine, nearly 120 grams of fentanyl, additional narcotics and more than $20,000 in cash.
Law enforcement also seized three loaded firearms from the residence, including a privately made rifle. Riley was prohibited from possessing any firearm because of a previous felony conviction.
Riley was convicted in 2012 of attempted possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. That conviction established his prohibited status and formed the basis for the felon-in-possession charge in the federal case.
The narcotics recovered from Riley’s residence also exceeded several of the weight thresholds specified in his conspiracy conviction. The nearly 120 grams of fentanyl seized during the search was close to three times the 40-gram quantity identified in the charge to which he pleaded guilty. Agents also recovered more than 930 grams of cocaine, in addition to the repeated wholesale deliveries of liquid PCP documented during the investigation.
The FBI Washington Field Office conducted the investigation with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Kinskey and John Crabb of the Violent Crime and Narcotics Trafficking Section prosecuted the case.
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Thank you for this news report. The combination of illegal drugs and loaded guns is usually a bad mix. Add to that a person who is not even supposed to have a gun and things get worse. It looks like this fellow may have been the reason for some of the violence mentioned in this article. In any case, I’m glad no law enforcement agents were injured in the arrest and, hopefully, the streets there should be much safer for some time.
I’ve liked Judge Pirro (now U.S. Attorney) since I saw a few of her TV shows years ago. This sounds just like her:
““This sentence delivers accountability for the violence his trafficking fueled, the fentanyl and PCP he chose to sell, and the firearms he kept ready to defend his profit. To every parent and resident of D.C.: we have your back.”
Thank you again for this article.
You’re very welcome, Chris.
The scale of this operation made the case especially serious. Riley was supplying wholesale quantities of PCP while also dealing in cocaine and fentanyl, and agents recovered three loaded firearms from his residence despite his previous felony conviction. Court records placed the conspiracy’s primary stash location inside an area experiencing repeated violent crime, though the case did not establish that Riley personally committed each of those offenses.
Jeanine Ferris Pirro’s statement was direct and unmistakably her own. She made it clear that federal authorities viewed this as more than a narcotics case because the operation affected families already living with violence and fear in their neighborhood.
Thank you again, Chris, for taking the time to read the article and share your thoughtful response. It is always greatly appreciated. I hope you have a great night and a great day ahead. 😎
You’re welcome, John, and thank you for this reply. It certainly was a very serious case with those loaded guns and the things that he was dealing as you stated. We’ll probably never know some of the things his actions led to.
I also appreciated Jeanine Ferris Pirro’s statement.
Thanks again, John, and I always appreciate your thoughtful responses as well. I hope you have a great night and a great day ahead!😊