Gang-Related Distribution Of Pills Containing Fentanyl Gets Alexandria Man Sentence

ALEXANDRIA, VA — An Alexandria man was sentenced Wednesday for distributing thousands of fentanyl-containing pills tied to gang activity.

A judge in Alexandria federal court sentenced Dashawn Dontia Blassingame, 24, to over 10 years in prison.

According to prosecutors, Blassingame and some co-conspirators were members of the Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips, which is described as a criminal street gang. The defendant and others allegedly distributed pills that appeared as regular Oxycodone but were counterfeit and contained fentanyl from April 2021 to May 2022.

Members involved in the scheme arranged for thousands of pills with fentanyl to be mailed from Arizona to Virginia for distribution. Prosecutors say the defendant and co-conspirators worked together to distribute these pills containing fentanyl in Northern Virginia and other places.

Blassingame was caught when law enforcement seized a package with over 7,000 pills containing fentanyl. Prosecutors say he had other previous convictions in Virginia, including felony eluding of police, being a felon in possession of ammunition, and multiple convictions for felony possession of controlled drugs.

Gun-related charges resulted from Blassingame having several guns despite being restricted by multiple felony convictions.