DC Rapper ‘Migo Lee,’ Leader in the KDY Drug Trafficking Crew, Sentenced to 168 Months
Thursday, January 16, 2025
Khali Brown and His Brother, Keion, Operated in Northwest D.C.
WASHINGTON – Khali Ahmed Brown, 23, and Keion Michael Brown, 21, brothers from Washington D.C. and members of the violent Kennedy Street Crew (KDY), were sentenced today for their roles in a massive drug trafficking organization 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 offense 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 today to 147 months in federal prison and ordered him to serve five years of supervised release.
The sentences were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, DEA Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Washington Division, ATF Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives - Washington Division, IRS Special Agent in Charge Kareem Carter, of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Washington D.C. Field Office, and Chief Pamela Smith of Metropolitan Police Department.
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 organizations (DTOs), KDY armed itself with fire power to facilitate the drug trade and defend its territory from rival crews.
As Migo Lee, Khali Brown served as a public face for the Kennedy Street Crew, publishing rap videos and social media communications that glorify violence against opposing crews. In addition, Khali Brown regularly utilized Instagram to advertise his narcotics, most predominantly pharmaceutical opioids and counterfeit versions thereof, for sale. Independent of the advertisements, Khali Brown also regularly boasted on social media about the spoils of his drug trafficking.
Early in the morning of October 10, 2022, Prince George’s County police were called for a report of a shooting at the Brown family residence in Bowie, Maryland, where Khali Brown, along with co-defendants Keion and Miasiah Brown, and Jovan Williams all resided. Upon arriving at the residence, officers noticed multiple bullet holes in the living room window, blood on the living room floor, spent shell casings, and a trail of blood on the front entryway near the front door. After obtaining a search warrant, law enforcement recovered three firearms, as well as numerous live rounds of ammunition, firearms accessories, and large capacity magazines. Overall, 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.
Roughly one month after his family residence was searched, Khali Brown and his associates committed a shooting outside Jackson-Reed High School in Northwest D.C. on November 18, 2022. That afternoon witnesses observed a male firing a machine gun indiscriminately near the north side of the school. The shooter then jumped into Khali Brown’s vehicle before speeding away. More than 20 shell casings were recovered from the scene, some of which were linked to a machine gun recovered from the January 2023 search of a KDY stash house, and forensically linked to Khali Brown.
Just over two months later, on the morning of January 26, 2023, DEA agents conducted an interdiction at Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI), where Khali Brown and several other KDY members were stopped on returning on redeye flight from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) smuggling bulk quantities of marijuana. Khali Brown and co-defendant Herman Signou managed to evade law enforcement, but surveilling officers followed their vehicle to the residence on D Street NE. 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 advertisements for pills.
When officers entered the D Street home, they found Khali Brown, Keion Brown, and other KDY associates. 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 that Khali Brown had been seen with when entering the house earlier that day. The suitcase also contained bulk quantities of marijuana, 351 fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills (roughly 39.4 grams), and 50 oxycodone pills.
Khali Brown’s DNA was included on two of the 10 recovered firearms from the D Street residence, including the machine gun used in the November 18, 2022 shooting at Jackson-Reed High School. The DNA of Keion Brown, Khali’s brother and co-defendant, was included on three firearms, including a Glock 45 9mm handgun linked to two suspected retaliatory shootings in D.C. and Maryland on October 10, 2022.
On June 26, 2023, as part of a coordinated law enforcement operation in connection with the investigation into KDY, 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 recognized the apartment from a music video Khali Brown published shortly before his arrest. Also concealed within the apartment were six loaded firearms, four of which were machine guns; a high-capacity drum magazine; about $3,000 in cash; and numerous bags containing about 3.5 kilograms of marijuana packaged for distribution.
On November 17, 2023, Keion Brown participated in an armed robbery and carjacking spree in the District. First, at approximately 7:40 that evening, Keion Brown, Williams, and a juvenile KDY member carjacked a man in Buzzard Point, stealing his Chevrolet Corvette, Tesla key with an airtag affixed to it, and airpods. An hour later, the same men, along with several additional accomplices, robbed three men at gunpoint in the 800 block of P Street NW, stealing multiple phones, a wallet, watch, and pair of shoes. Law enforcement ultimately tracked the airtag to an apartment building in the 4700 block of Benning Road SE, where Keion Brown and Williams were arrested in a laundry room. In the room, four firearms were also discovered, including a machine gun with Keion Brown’s DNA on the weapon. On his person at the time of his arrest, Keion Brown had a bottle of 62 oxycodone pills for distribution.
This investigation was conducted under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. 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 conducted under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. 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 case was investigated by Special Agents of U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the Metropolitan Police Department, the DEA’s Washington Division, ATF’s Washington Field Division, with assistance from FBI’s Washington Field Office, the IRS-Criminal Investigation Washington, D.C. Office, and the Prince George’s County Police Department.
The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Kinskey and Sitara Witanachchi, of the of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.