Baltimore Man Pleads Guilty in Federal Court to Fentanyl, Firearm, and Unemployment Insurance Fraud Charges — District of Maryland

Summary

Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland, dated May 14, 2025. Vincent Ford of Baltimore, Maryland, pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and oxycodone, possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon, and wire fraud connected with COVID-19 unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. According to the plea, between at least June 13, 2020, and November 19, 2020, Ford took part in a scheme to defraud the Maryland Department of Labor of at least $17,000 in UI benefits using stolen identities. Ford faces a maximum of 15 years on the firearm charge, 20 years on the drug charge and 20 years on the wire fraud charge; Judge Deborah L. Boardman scheduled sentencing for November 3.

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PRESS RELEASE


Baltimore Man Pleads Guilty in Federal
Court to Fentanyl, Firearm, and
Unemployment Insurance Fraud Charges
Wednesday, May 14, 2025

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

Greenbelt, Maryland – Today, Vincent Ford, 22, of Baltimore, Maryland, pled guilty in
federal court to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and oxycodone; possession
of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon; and wire fraud, in connection with
fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 unemployment insurance (UI) benefits.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the plea with
Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and
Explosives (ATF); Special Agent in Charge Troy W. Springer, National Capital Region, U.S.
Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG); and Chief Malik Aziz,
Prince George’s County Police Department (PGPD).

According to the guilty plea, on February 17, 2023, PGPD officers conducted a traffic
stop on a vehicle with heavily tinted windows. During the traffic stop, officers detected
the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. The driver acknowledged there was
marijuana in the car.

Ford was the passenger in the vehicle and officers noticed that he was wearing an
unzipped gray satchel. After searching the vehicle, officers found a loaded Taurus G3C
semi-automatic firearm under the passenger seat where Ford had been sitting. It was
loaded with 13 rounds of 9mm ammunition in the magazine and one round of 9mm
ammunition in the chamber ready to be fired. The firearm was previously reported
stolen from a vehicle in Baltimore County.

Law enforcement also searched Ford’s satchel and person, recovering 46 30mg blue pills
that contained fentanyl, a 20mg white pill that contained oxycodone, three 15mg green
pills that contained oxycodone, and more than $1,000 in cash.
Ford admitted to possessing the fentanyl and oxycodone pills with the intent to
distribute them. He also acknowledged that he possessed the loaded Taurus firearm in
furtherance of his drug trafficking. Due to a previous felony conviction, Ford is
prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition.

Additionally, a subsequent investigation revealed that Ford also engaged in COVID-19
UI fraud. According to the plea, between at least June 13, 2020, and November 19,
2020, Ford participated in a scheme to defraud the Maryland Department of Labor of at
least $17,000 in UI benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the COVID-
19 pandemic, several federal programs expanded UI eligibility and increased UI benefits
to provide emergency assistance to struggling Americans. Ford fraudulently took
advantage of that program and filed at least six false UI claims, using stolen identities of
real persons. Two of the fraudulent claims resulted in the disbursement of $17,000 in
funds in the names of two of the identity theft victims. He obtained $2,580 of that
amount from a bank card in the name of one of the victims.

Ford faces a maximum sentence of 15 years for the felon in possession of a firearm and
ammunition charge; a maximum of 20 years for possession with intent to distribute
fentanyl and oxycodone; and a maximum of 20 years for wire fraud in connection with
his fraudulent COVID-19 unemployment insurance scheme. Judge Deborah L.
Boardman scheduled sentencing for Monday, November 3, at 2 p.m.

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.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement
Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with
agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-
related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most
culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with
administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting
and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and
techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing
information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. 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 ATF, DOL-OIG, and PGPD for their work in the
investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick D. Kibbe and
Nicholas F. Potter who are prosecuting the case.

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 May 14, 2025

Topics
CORONAVIRUS

DRUG TRAFFICKING

FIREARMS OFFENSES
Components
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
USAO - Maryland


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