Maryland man sentenced to 102 months for drug trafficking

WASHINGTON – A Maryland man was sentenced to 102 months in prison Tuesday on a federal drug conspiracy charge stemming from his role in a drug trafficking ring that sold cocaine, marijuana and other narcotics in the Washington, D.C. area. This case was investigated by the FBI, the Metropolitan Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) as part of the FBI’s Safe Streets Gang Task Force. Prince George’s County Police Department provided investigative assistance. 

Bradley Cobbler, 35, of Hyattsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana. He was sentenced Jan. 29 by the Honorable Amit P. Mehta. Following his prison term, Cobbler will be placed on five years of supervised release.

According to court documents, Cobbler and others participated in a conspiracy to distribute large amounts of narcotics between 2009 and 2014.  This case represented the end result of a more than three-year investigation into illegal drug distribution and other criminal activity which, in various capacities, involved or occurred in the District of Columbia, as well as Maryland, California and Virginia. The organization mainly trafficked large quantities of marijuana, but also involved itself with redistributing various and significant quantities of heroin and cocaine hydrochloride (powder cocaine).  In that regard, during the conspiracy, California suppliers frequently sent – or conspired to send – large quantities of marijuana, heroin or cocaine to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, where the defendant and others participated in the illegal redistribution of one or more of the controlled substances to others in the Washington, D.C., area for profit.  

Beginning sometime in 2011 and continuing until August 2014, Cobbler had an agreement to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, and other narcotics, with various individuals in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, specifically including the District of Columbia and Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Cobbler acknowledged that he and another co-defendant initially started pooling their money together to purchase marijuana from a California supplier, and they traveled together on some occasions to California to facilitate drug deals. Cobbler also admitted he gave quantities of narcotics to the coconspirator during 2014 for the purposes of redistribution to others. Other codefendants then sold these narcotics.

Cobbler was arrested on April 7, 2016, and has been in custody ever since. Several others previously pleaded guilty to charges in the investigation.