Khali Ahmed Brown, 23, and Keion Michael Brown, 21, brothers from Washington D.C. and members of the violent Kennedy Street Crew (KDY), have been sentenced for their roles in a massive drug trafficking organisation that operated open-air markets in Northwest Washington D.C.
Khali Brown, aka rapper ‘Migo Lee’, pleaded guilty on September 20, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana, fentanyl, and oxycodone. He also pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offence and to assault with a dangerous weapon. U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell today sentenced Khali Brown to 168 months in federal prison and ordered him to serve five years of supervised release.
Keion Brown pleaded guilty on September 20, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana and oxycodone and to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Judge Howell sentenced Keion Brown to 147 months in federal prison and ordered him to serve five years of supervised release.
According to court documents, KDY members operated open-air drug markets on an 11-block stretch of Kennedy Street in Northwest Washington, D.C., as well as surrounding streets. Like many drug trafficking organisations (DTOs), KDY armed itself with firepower to facilitate the drug trade and defend its territory from rival crews.
As Migo Lee, Khali Brown served as the leading public face for the Kennedy Street Crew. He acted as a driver of escalating crew-related violence through beefs incited through his social media activity and music videos. The music videos put a finer point on the dangerousness he presents.
Generally, in his videos, Khali Brown glorified violence, referring to himself by the tagline used among KDY crew members, “young and violent”, and characterising himself as part of ‘Seal Team 6’ or ‘ST6’, evoking militaristic tactics to eliminate the opposition. He is notorious for producing ‘diss’ music videos taunting rival crew members, including those who have been murdered.
In addition, by Khali Brown’s admission, he is accountable for trafficking no greater than 40 grams of fentanyl, no greater than 125 grams of oxycodone, and more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana, but no more than 2,000 kilos of marijuana. The converted drug weight for these quantities of narcotics, under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, was at least 1,000 kilograms but no greater than 3,000 kilograms.
Khali Brown’s role as a drug trafficker for KDY is further documented in a review of his social media activity, along with his travel patterns and encounters with law enforcement. Khali Brown regularly utilised Instagram to advertise his narcotics, most predominantly pills, for sale. Independent of the ads, Khali Brown also regularly boasted on social media about the spoils of his drug trafficking.
Early in the morning of October 10, 2022, Prince Georges County police were called for a report of a shooting at a stash house in Bowie, Maryland, that Khali Brown maintained. After executing a search warrant, law enforcement recovered three firearms, as well as numerous live rounds of ammunition, firearms accessories, and large-capacity magazines.
Throughout the residence, officers found and seized nearly $47,000 in cash. In addition, law enforcement seized 103 pounds of marijuana stored in hardshell luggage, 66.2 grams of crack cocaine, and an aggregate of 106.4 grams of oxycodone pills and 79.6 grams of methamphetamine pills.
Khali Brown, his brothers Keion and Miasiah, and co-conspirator Jovan Williams lived in the Bowie, MD, house. Despite the Browns’ mother denying to police that anyone had been injured during the shooting, responding officers noticed multiple bullet holes in the living room window, blood on the living room floor, spent shell casings, and a trail of blood near the front door.
Khali Brown’s social media activity led law enforcement to confirm another of his stash houses, this one on the 1700 block of D Street, NE. On the morning of January 26, 2023, DEA and ATF agents conducted an interdiction at Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI), where Khali Brown and several other KDY members were stopped as they returned on a redeye flight from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) smuggling bulk quantities of marijuana.
At BWI, Khali Brown and co-defendant Herman Signou managed to evade law enforcement, but surveilling ATF agents followed their vehicle to the residence on D Street NE. MPD officers watched as the two men entered the house with two pieces of luggage. Law enforcement compared open-source photos of the interior of the house to the Instagram stories posted by Khali Brown and noticed distinct characteristics of the living room that were also present in his Instagram ads.
When officers entered the D Street home, they found Khali Brown along with two of his brothers and three other co-defendants. Scattered throughout the basement of the stash house, officers found 10 loaded firearms, two of which were machine guns. Four of those firearms were found in a suitcase resembling one officers had seen Khali Brown with as he entered the house earlier in the day. The suitcase also contained bulk quantities of marijuana, 351 fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills, and 50 oxycodone pills.
Khali Brown’s DNA was included on two of the 10 firearms law enforcement recovered from the D Street residence: a Glock 17 9mm handgun with an obliterated serial number equipped with a machine gun conversion device that was used in the November 18, 2022, shooting at Jackson-Reed High School in Northwest D.C.; and a Glock 29 10 mm pistol equipped with an extended magazine. The DNA of Keion Brown, Khali’s brother and co-defendant, was included on three firearms, including a Glock 45 9mm handgun equipped with an extended magazine. The Glock 4 was linked to two shootings on October 10, 2022, one in Takoma Park and another in Southeast Washington D.C.
On June 26, 2023, Khali Brown was arrested with his co-defendants, Tristan ‘Greedy’ Ware and Miasiah Brown, at a known stash house at Fifth and O Streets NW, where both Khali and Miasiah Brown had been observed by law enforcement conducting narcotics transactions. Law enforcement was able to identify the apartment as being associated with Khali Brown based on a music video he published shortly before his arrest.
Agents found six loaded firearms concealed within the apartment, four of which were machine guns, a high-capacity drum magazine, nearly $3,000 in cash, and numerous bags containing about 3.5 kilograms of marijuana packaged for distribution.
