Members of Violent '21st and Vietnam' Crew Sentenced for Fentanyl Trafficking, Shooting (Press Release, June 26, 2025)

Summary

Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia, dated June 26, 2025. Jamiek Bassil was sentenced to 135 months in prison and Charles Manson to a longer term for roles in the 21st and Vietnam drug trafficking conspiracy that distributed fentanyl, crack cocaine and other drugs in Northeast Washington, D.C.; for Manson the sentence also covered a March 2024 shooting. The release says both pleaded guilty on March 21, 2025, and Judge Beryl A. Howell ordered five years of supervised release for each. Bassil sold significant quantities of fentanyl to undercover law enforcement between January and March 2024. The release gives two different figures for Manson's prison term, so none is stated here.

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PRESS RELEASE


Members of Violent ʻ21st and Vietnamʼ
Crew Sentenced for Fentanyl Trafficking,
Shooting
Thursday, June 26, 2025

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia
USADC.Media@usdoj.gov

       WASHINGTON – Jamiek Bassil, 32, and Charles Manson, 34, of the District of
Columbia, were sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 135 months in prison and 175
months, respectively, for their roles in the violent 21st and Vietnam drug trafficking
conspiracy that distributed fentanyl, crack cocaine, and other drugs in Northeast
Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, and, in Manson’s case, for a March 2024 shooting near
19th and I Streets NE. The sentences were announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris
Pirro.

       Bassil, aka “Onion,” pleaded guilty on March 21, 2025, to conspiracy to distribute
400 grams or more of fentanyl. In addition to the 135-month prison term, Judge Beryl A.
Howell ordered Bassil to serve five years of supervised release.

        Manson, aka “Cheese,” pleaded guilty on March 21, 2025, to multiple counts:
conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, possession of a firearm in
furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and assault with a dangerous weapon. In
addition to the 170-month prison term, Judge Howell ordered Manson to serve five
years of supervised release.

       According to court documents, Bassil and Manson were members of the
“21 and Vietnam” crew, which controlled an open-air drug market and distributed
   st


narcotics in the area of the 2100 block of Maryland Avenue, NE.

       Bassil repeatedly sold significant quantities of fentanyl – as much as roughly 80
grams at a time -- to undercover law enforcement between January and March 2024.
        Manson sold narcotics directly to customers and was captured on surveillance
video engaging in hand-to-hand drug transactions. During the conspiracy, Manson also
participated in multiple controlled drug sales to law enforcement.

        In a March 7, 2024, Manson was the gunman in a shooting. Manson was with
several co-conspirators adjacent to an apartment building on the 1900 block of I Street
that was the base of the conspiracy’s operations. A person walked by with their dog.
Members of the crew had a verbal altercation with the dogwalker. Manson then went
into the crew’s stash house in the apartment building. A crew member handed Manson
a ski mask. Manson exited the apartment building wearing the mask and armed with a
gun. Manson fired several rounds in the direction of the dogwalker. Neither the
dogwalker nor the dog were hit.

       On May 15, 2024, investigators arrested Manson at his residence on the 1900
block of I Street, NE. Law enforcement recovered a Glock 17 pistol loaded with 22
rounds of 9mm ammunition. They also recovered a handgun magazine, a box of
ammunition, about 50 grams of fentanyl analogue, about 13.88 grams of cocaine, and
assorted drug paraphernalia.

         This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces
(OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug
traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that
threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency
approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement
agencies against criminal networks.

        This investigation was a multi-agency effort between the Violent Crime
Investigations Team of the Violent Crime Suppression Division of the Metropolitan
Police Department, the FBI Washington Field Office’s Cross-Border Task Force, the Drug
Enforcement Administration’s Washington Division, the District of Columbia National
Guard Counter Drug Program, and the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrea Duvall and Solomon
Eppel of the Violent Crime Reduction and Narcotics Trafficking Section.

24cr226

Contact
USADC.Media@usdoj.gov

Updated June 26, 2025
Topics
DRUG TRAFFICKING

VIOLENT CRIME


Components
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
USAO - District of Columbia


Press Release Number: 25-279


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