Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the unsealing today of a four-count superseding information charging DEEJAY WHITE with offenses relating to his participation in a May 29, 2019 gunpoint robbery in the Bronx targeting more than 150 kilograms of cocaine, his participation in a conspiracy to smuggle contraband—including narcotics and a firearm—into the Metropolitan Correctional Center (“MCC”), a federal detention facility, and his possession of that firearm while incarcerated. DEEJAY WHITE pled guilty on July 23, 2021, before U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel.
Mr. Williams also announced the unsealing of a five-count information charging DAWNTIANA WHITE, DEEJAY WHITE’s wife, who pled guilty on July 13, 2021 before U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla to conspiracy to distribute narcotics, conspiracy to provide prison contraband, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. DAWNTIANA WHITE also pled guilty on March 17, 2022 before Judge Failla to a one-count superseding information charging her with perjury.
DEEJAY WHITE is scheduled to be sentenced on May 17, 2022, and DAWNTIANA WHITE is scheduled to be sentenced on June 14, 2022.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Deejay White was responsible for a dangerous gunpoint robbery of more than one hundred kilograms of cocaine that left several victims injured. Even after he was arrested and in jail, facing up to a life sentence on those charges, Deejay White continued to commit crimes. Deejay White and his wife, Dawntiana White, placed inmates, staff, and court personnel in grave danger by smuggling drugs and a firearm into a federal detention facility. Individuals who are tempted to defy law and order should be on notice that we will continue working to identify and put an end to their alarming conduct and to hold them accountable.”
According to the Informations unsealed today, court filings, and statements made during earlier court appearances:
In late May 2019, a Bronx-based member of a Puerto Rico-based drug trafficking organization (“DTO”) was expecting a delivery of furniture concealing approximately 176 kilograms of the DTO’s cocaine. DEEJAY WHITE and others learned of the expected shipment and planned a violent robbery of the DTO’s cocaine. On May 29, 2019, DEEJAY WHITE parked outside the Bronx apartment where the DTO’s cocaine was stored while four co-conspirators forced entry into the apartment and held up the ten victims, including four children, at gunpoint. Two victims were pistol-whipped during the robbery and a third sustained serious injuries after jumping out of the apartment’s third-floor window in an attempt to flee to safety. One of the robbers threw a duffel bag containing kilograms of cocaine into DEEJAY WHITE’s car, which then drove off.
DEEJAY WHITE was arrested on November 25, 2019 on charges relating to the robbery and conspiracy to distribute the stolen cocaine, ordered detained, and housed at the MCC in Manhattan. Days after entering the MCC, DEEJAY WHITE began using contraband cellphones to conspire with others—including his wife, DAWNTIANA WHITE—to commit additional crimes. Among other things, DEEJAY WHITE directed DAWNTIANA WHITE to smuggle drugs to DEEJAY WHITE in the MCC, which DAWNTIANA WHITE did on multiple occasions.
In or about January 2020, DEEJAY WHITE conspired with DAWNTIANA WHITE and others to have a firearm (the “Firearm”) and drugs smuggled to DEEJAY WHITE inside the MCC. After they successfully smuggled the Firearm and contraband into the MCC, DEEJAY WHITE confirmed to DAWNTIANA WHITE that he had received the Firearm.
On or about February 26, 2020, Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) officials discovered a contraband cellphone in DEEJAY WHITE’s cell and transferred him to the Specialized Housing Unit (“SHU”). While in the SHU, DEEJAY WHITE lied to a MCC investigator about his own role in smuggling the Firearm into the MCC and his possession of the Firearm inside the MCC, which led to an extensive lockdown of the MCC while BOP officials searched for the gun and other contraband. Following a search of the MCC, on or about March 5, 2020, the Firearm, which was loaded, was recovered from inside a wall of DEEJAY WHITE’s MCC cell.
On or about July 14, 2021, DAWNTIANA WHITE falsely testified before a Grand Jury in the Southern District of New York about how she obtained the Firearm to smuggle to DEEJAY WHITE inside the MCC.
DEEJAY WHITE, 45, of Chappaqua, New York, pled guilty to conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison, and a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison to run consecutively to any other term of imprisonment; being a felon in possession of a firearm, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; and conspiracy to receive contraband in prison, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison. The maximum potential sentences in DEEJAY WHITE’s case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of DEEJAY WHITE will be determined by the judge.
DAWNTIANA WHITE, 38, of Brooklyn, New York, pled guilty to narcotics conspiracy, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; prison contraband conspiracy, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison; obstruction of justice, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years; two counts of wire fraud, each of which carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and perjury, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison. The maximum potential sentences in DAWNTIANA WHITE’s case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of DAWNTIANA WHITE will be determined by the judge.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
The prosecutions of DEEJAY WHITE for conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and of DAWNTIANA WHITE for narcotics conspiracy and wire fraud, are being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Juliana N. Murray, Ryan B. Finkel, Peter J. Davis, and Kaylan E. Lasky are in charge of the prosecutions. Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”), the New York Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), the New York Office of the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the New York State Police (“NYSP”) in this investigation.
The prosecutions of DEEJAY WHITE for conspiring to receive contraband in prison and being a felon in possession of a firearm, and of DAWNTIANA WHITE for participating in a prison contraband conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury are being handled by the Office’s Narcotics and Public Corruption Units. Assistant United States Attorneys Juliana N. Murray, Ryan B. Finkel, Peter J. Davis, Kaylan E. Lasky, Aline R. Flodr, Daniel H. Wolf, and Jonathan E. Rebold are in charge of the prosecutions. Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General New York Field Office, Special Agents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in New York, the DEA, ATF, NYPD, and NYSP in this investigation.
