VIRGINIA BEACH — A 33-year-old heroin dealer known for selling his product with labels like “King of Death” will spend more than three decades in prison after leading a drug trafficking ring that sold substances to people who overdosed and died.
Erskine A. Dawson was sentenced to 36 years in prison for selling heroin and fentanyl from a Virginia Beach motel named Studios 4 Less. He managed more than six people and the ring sold between three and 10 kilograms of heroin, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Dawson got the drugs from distributors in New Jersey who put them in stuffed animals and shipped them using commercial buses. He distributed the drugs in wax bags stamped with names like “King of Death,” “Last Call,” and “Steph Curry,” according to the DOJ.
Several of Dawson’s clients overdosed, and two of them died.
“Dawson’s knowledge of the damage and possible death he was dealing to his customers shows his blatant disregard for the sanctity of human life,” Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Karl C. Colder wrote in a news release.
Dawson pleaded guilty on July 18 to conspiracy to sell heroin and fentanyl, distribution of fentanyl resulting in death and possession of guns during a drug trafficking crime.
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