JCC Man Faces Crack Cocaine Charges after Task Force Probe

By WYDaily Staff Tuesday, May 24, 2011

A 34-year-old James City County man believed to be responsible for part of the Williamsburg area's crack cocaine trade is under a federal indictment on drug trafficking charges.

Dion Kinte Bartlett was indicted May 9 by a federal grand jury after a three-month investigation by agents from the Tri-Rivers Drug Task Force. Bartlett lived on Forest Glen, off Centreville Road, at the time of his indictment.

According to a statement released by the James City County Police, the investigation "revealed Bartlett was responsible for distributing a significant amount of the crack cocaine in the greater Williamsburg area."

Bartlett faces the following charges: conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; possess with the intent to distribute cocaine; possess with intent to distribute cocaine base; and distribute cocaine base. Each charge could carry up to 30 years in prison.

It's not the first time Bartlett has faced drug charges. In 2000 he pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of possession with intent to deliver cocaine. He was released March 11 from federal prison, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, and was on probation when indicted on the current charges.

Bartlett was originally sentenced to 15 years, 10 months with five years of supervised release to follow on the single charge he faced in 2000. Bartlett later appealed to have the sentence vacated, and in 2008 the sentence was reduced to 13 years - the result of U.S. Supreme Court cases in 2007 that provided lower courts with discretion in determining penalties for cocaine sentences. It was not immediately clear how Bartlett's release date was calculated.

According to the James City police statement, the Tri-Rivers Drug Task Force "aggressively targets lower, middle and upper level drug dealers" with the cooperation of local Commonwealth Attorney offices and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Seven agencies in six jurisductions comprise the Task Force: the Virginia State Police, James City County Police Department, York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office, Poquoson Police Department, Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office, Mathews County Sheriff’s Office and the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office.