Previously Convicted Felon Sentenced to More Than 26 Years in Federal Prison for Possessing a Firearm (Press Release)

Summary

Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland, dated April 9, 2025. Chief U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III, sentenced Ryan E. Dales of Baltimore to 26 years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release. A federal jury found Dales guilty on December 9, 2024, of unlawfully possessing a firearm as a felon, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. On January 10, 2025, Dales pled guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft over a scheme using victims' identities to obtain riding lawn mowers on credit and fraudulent unemployment insurance benefits, with a total of $121,242.51 obtained.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

PRESS RELEASE


Previously Convicted Felon Sentenced to
More Than 26 Years in Federal Prison for
Possessing a Firearm in Connection With
Drug Trafficking Fentanyl, Wire Fraud,
and Aggravated Identity Theft
Wednesday, April 9, 2025

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland

Defendant convicted after trial on drug and firearms offenses and thereafter pled
guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft

Baltimore, Maryland – Today, Chief U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III, sentenced
Ryan E. Dales, 36, of Baltimore, to 26 years in federal prison, followed by five years of
supervised release. Dales, a previously convicted felon, was charged with unlawfully
possessing a firearm as a felon, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, possession
of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, wire fraud, and aggravated
identity theft.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with
Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the Federal Bureau of Investigation –
Baltimore Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Troy W. Springer, of the National
Capital Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG).

“Mr. Dales’s criminal activity was callous, dangerous, and with complete disregard for his
victims,” Hayes said. “Thanks to our federal, local, and state law-enforcement partners,
we’re showing Mr. Dales and others that engaging in criminal activity comes with a
price. We’re serious about holding those accountable who commit illegal acts and
terrorize our community with fentanyl, firearms, and fraud. Fortunately, Mr. Dales will
have plenty of time to think about his actions while in prison.”
“This sentence of 26 years reflects the seriousness of Dales’ actions which include drug
and weapon offenses as well as identity theft and fraud schemes. As a repeat offender,
Dales knew the consequences of his wrongdoing yet chose to continue dealing drugs
and committing crimes,” DelBagno said. “The FBI has no tolerance for repeat offenders
who threaten the safety and security of our communities.”

“Ryan Dales engaged in a multi-faceted pandemic-relief fraud scheme that included
filing fraudulent UI claims with the Maryland Department of Labor. Dales stole benefits
intended for unemployed American workers who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19
pandemic,” Springer said. “The significant prison sentence imposed today is the direct
result of outstanding collaboration with our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the
District of Maryland and the FBI in ensuring the integrity of these critical benefit
programs. This is particularly true when it involves firearms and drug trafficking as well
as other violent crimes in our communities.”

On December 9, 2024, a federal jury found Dales guilty of unlawfully possessing a
firearm as a felon, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and possession of a
firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Additionally, Dales faced a second
trial on wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges, but on January 10, 2025, Dales
pled guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

According to the evidence presented at trial, on January 20, 2023, authorities arrested
Dales pursuant to a federal arrest warrant, and law enforcement executed a federal
search warrant the same day at Dales’s residence. Dales resided in a luxury apartment
building in Locust Point. During the search, law enforcement located and seized, among
other things, various items used in connection Dales’s illegal business selling drugs,
including two loaded firearms, specifically, a stolen Smith & Wesson firearm, and one
which was a privately made “ghost gun” Polymer80 9mm firearm with no serial number,
and a box containing 28 rounds of 9mm ammunition, including hollow point
ammunition. In addition, law enforcement seized numerous packages of controlled
dangerous substances, including hundreds of grams of fentanyl packaged for street
level distribution, multiple digital scales, sifters, a heat sealer, a bag containing 10,000
empty capsules meant to package drugs, other drug packing materials, various cutting
agents, a respirator, and six cell phones.

Later, Dales voluntarily waived his Miranda rights and admitted to living in his apartment
alone and that the firearms seized in his apartment were his. He also told law
enforcement that he was a “very resourceful person,” referring to his livelihood as a drug
dealer. Dales’ DNA was later determined to be present on both firearms and their
magazines.
Law enforcement’s later review of Dales’s cell phones revealed the existence of
numerous Telegram chats where he negotiated purchasing drugs and cutting agents
from multiple people, including mass producers of fentanyl in China. Investigators
further found evidence that about a month before the execution of the search warrant,
Dales traveled to Boston with a firearm (identical in appearance to the ghost gun found
in his apartment) and a bag full of cash to purchase drugs. Dales’s device search history
included searches for where fentanyl is produced in China, how to dye powders, and
how many bullets a Smith and Wesson M&P 9c firearm — the same type seized from his
apartment — can hold.

After his conviction at trial on the drug and firearms offenses, Dales pled guilty to a
fraud scheme in which he used victims’ identities to obtain various high-end
lawnmowers on credit and received fraudulent unemployment insurance (UI)
benefits. From December 2020 through September 2022 — while serving a federal
sentence for bank-fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft — and living in a
halfway house while on federal supervised release in the District of Maryland, Dales
engaged in various fraudulent schemes. Dales attempted to defraud the State of
Maryland, Maryland Department of Labor (MD-DOL), the Small Business Administration,
and various businesses and financial institutions to obtain more than $25,000 in
unlawful COVID-19 benefits funds though the submission of fraudulent claims for UI
benefits; more than $95,000 worth of high-end riding lawn mowers on credit using the
stolen personal identifiable information (PII) of seven victims information —such as
names, dates of birth, social security numbers, and addresses of real persons — and
attempting to fraudulently obtain an $8,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL).

During the execution of the residential search warrant, law enforcement seized various
items used in connection with Dales’s fraud and identity theft schemes, including
multiple computers, an embosser and ID card printer, laminate sheets with security
holograms, gift cards in various denominations, a card printer and card reader, bulk
packages of shrink-wrapped white PVC cards; and multiple fraudulent and fabricated
South Carolina driver’s licenses made by Dales containing PII of various victims, but
which displayed Dales’s photograph.

Dales used the fabricated driver’s licenses in connection with the fraudulent purchases
of riding mowers and other impermissible uses. He also obtained the identity theft
victims’ PII on the dark web. The total amount obtained by Dales from the UI fraud
scheme, as well as the fraudulent purchase of the lawnmowers on credit was
$121,242.51.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all
levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and
gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the
Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on
these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting
community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first
place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

The District of Maryland Strike Force is one of five strike forces established throughout
the United States by the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute COVID-
19 fraud, including fraud relating to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security
(CARES) Act. The CARES Act was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to
Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The strike
forces focus on large-scale, multi-state pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal
organizations and transnational actors. The strike forces are interagency law
enforcement efforts, using prosecutor-led and data analyst-driven teams designed to
identify and bring to justice those who stole pandemic relief funds.

For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic,
visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus. Anyone with information about allegations of
attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s
National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF
Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-
complaint-form.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the FBI and DOL-OIG for their work in connection with
the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul A. Riley and
Reema Sood, who prosecuted the federal case. She also recognized the assistance of
the Maryland COVID-19 Strike Force Paralegal Specialist Joanna B.N. Huber.

For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and
resources available to help the community, visit www.justice.gov/usao-
md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach

                                          ###

Contact
Kevin Nash
USAMD.Press@usdoj.gov
410-209-4946

Updated April 10, 2025
Topics
CORONAVIRUS

DRUG TRAFFICKING

IDENTITY THEFT
Components
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
USAO - Maryland


File and source

File

2025-04-16-Previously-Convicted-Felon-Sentenced-to-More-Than-26-Years-in-Federal-Prison-for-Possessing-a-Firea.pdf

Size

113,346 bytes

SHA-256

f30a706e92caa5f985ec29de31e4b4b7035ba8d1e3abe6fb7c2493a02baf01fb

Our copy

2025-04-16-Previously-Convicted-Felon-Sentenced-to-More-Than-26-Years-in-Federal-Prison-for-Possessing-a-Firea.pdf

Original

www.oig.dol.gov