Drug Trafficking Case Ends With Guilty Verdict In Anne Arundel County

ANNAPOLIS, MD — A jury has found a Virginia man guilty of drug trafficking with a handgun, Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess confirmed.

Derron Daley, 23, of Stafford, Virginia, was found guilty of 20 felony charges, which included possession of more than 10 grams of marijuana, three counts of transporting a loaded handgun, three counts of possession of a handgun while being a prohibited person and three counts of possession of a handgun while engaged in a drug trafficking crime.

Prosecutors said Daley, who is a convicted felon, is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison without the possibility of parole.

Earlier this year, authorities said he was convicted of possession with intent to distribute marijuana in Virginia. He had fled to Florida and was extradited back to Virginia and then to Maryland for this proceeding.

Daley will be sentenced on Sept. 16, 2022.

“At the time of the arrest, the defendant was not only a fugitive, but was also prohibited by law from carrying a gun as a convicted felon,” said State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess. “His decision to continue trafficking drugs while armed shows his complete disregard for the laws and safety of our community.”

On Sept. 25, 2021, prosecutors said a Maryland State trooper pulled over a Porsche for a minor traffic infraction. While inspecting the outside of the vehicle, the trooper discovered that the tags to the vehicle did not belong to the vehicle and immediately smelled a very strong odor of marijuana in the car.

There were five people in the car, including the defendant, who was identified as Derron Daley. Daley was seated in the backseat on the right-hand side behind the front passenger. The trooper told the people inside the vehicle to get out of the car and began searching the car.

Prosecutors said troopers found multiple marijuana packets along the driver's door, along the front passenger's side door, behind the driver's seat, as well as a loaded handgun with a round chambered inside.

Police said they located about $11,000 in cash behind the passenger seat where the defendant was seated, and two more loaded handguns in hidden compartments in the backsides of both the driver's and passenger’s seats. The hidden compartments were only accessible to the backseat passengers.

Further investigation found that Daley had an open warrant from the state of Virginia for drug trafficking charges and was prohibited from possessing firearms due to his prior criminal juvenile history and his age. After the trooper found the first gun, but before they found the hidden compartments, Daley blurted out to his fellow passengers multiple times, "the gun's clean", "the gun's clean", "it's just a gun charge" and "if the gun's clean, then there's nothing to worry about."

Daley was arrested at the scene.