A Southeast D.C. couple is facing federal charges after agents discovered 322 grams of suspected fentanyl, loaded weapons, and three children in their Congress Heights apartment. Katie Shameka Williams, 33, and Kenneth Darnell Smith Jr., 32, were detained on Tuesday after a federal search warrant was served at their apartment complex on the 1600 block of Savanna Street SE, according to prosecutors.
The two are accused of running a narcotics trafficking business from their house, with authorities documenting at least nine cases of crack cocaine and fentanyl distribution. The FBI Washington Field Office Safe Streets Task Force collaborated with the Metropolitan Police Department on the investigation, and the prosecution was handled by the Violent Crime and Narcotics Trafficking Section of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, according to the US Department of Justice. Officials said they began investigating the narcotics distribution enterprise in March.
According to the seed report, authorities seized around 322 grams of suspected fentanyl in pill and powder form, as well as $1,931 in cash. They also seized three loaded handguns, a rifle, a drum magazine, several other firearm magazines, and ammunition. According to the same source, the United States Attorney’s Office produced images of the seized evidence, which included a bag of suspected fentanyl pills.
According to the post, officials discovered three children inside the flat while conducting the search. The report does not specify what custody arrangements were made following the finding, and this remains an open topic as the case progresses.
Williams and Smith were charged with conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of a fentanyl-containing mixture or drug, as well as a cocaine-based mixture or substance. Both made their first court appearances after being arrested. A conspiracy charge involving 40 grams or more of fentanyl under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(B) carries a mandatory minimum of five years in prison, up to a maximum of 40 years, and fines up to $5 million for a person, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. A separate accusation of possessing 28 grams or more of crack cocaine carries the same five-year statutory minimum under the same legislation.
According to the Jarrett Maillet Legislation Firm, drug operations in the presence of underage children are considered a serious aggravating circumstance under federal sentencing legislation, particularly 21 U.S.C. § 860a. This can result in an additional consecutive jail term. Prosecutors regularly use the presence of children to argue against pretrial release in cases like this one.
The 1600 block of Savanna Street SE has a track record of gun violence. Hoodline previously reported on a daytime gunfire that injured two individuals on the same block in May, and the block was also the scene of a tragic homicide in 2020. The discovery of loaded pistols, high-capacity magazines, and synthetic opioids at a residential residence exemplifies the type of link between firearms and drug trafficking that has repeatedly occurred in Ward 8.
Using DEA technical criteria that set a deadly fentanyl dose at 2 milligrams for most persons, the 322 grams recovered from the unit equals around 161,000 potentially lethal doses. The opioid issue in Washington, D.C., has been terrible for years. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner investigated 2,515 fatal opioid overdoses between January 2018 and June 2024, with 427 deaths in 2023 alone.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro stated that the charges represent her office’s proactive commitment to destroying violent drug networks, removing dangerous traffickers off the streets, and ensuring community safety. Pirro, who was approved as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia in 2025, stated that her office will no longer tolerate lawlessness in the nation’s capital.
The case is part of a larger federal crime surge resulting from President Trump’s March 2025 executive order, Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful, which created a federal task force and extended federal law enforcement operations throughout the city. Officials believe the rise has resulted in over 3,200 drug-related arrests. Hoodline previously covered the initiative’s home-rule court battle and reported when the task force stated it had made 10,000 arrests. Pirro’s office also recently announced indictments against 14 people in a separate D.C. drug ring, and the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force has previously dismantled other city-level drug operations, including one near 7th and O Streets NW that resulted in multi-year federal prison sentences for several co-defendants.
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