57-month prison term for convicted drug dealer

Carl Anthony Samuels had already moved to Greensboro, N.C., with his fiancé and her son when he was arrested in connection with a Charlottesville drug ring earlier this year.

Samuels, 37, said in court Monday that he and his fiancé moved because they wanted to start a new life together. However, the next 57 months of Samuels’s life will be spent in prison.

U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon also sentenced Samuels on Monday to three months of supervised release. Samuels previously pleaded guilty in Charlottesville’s federal court to conspiracy to distribute 60 to 80 kilos of marijuana.

In court Monday, Samuels testified that he had been working locally as a sound engineer.

“There were many times where months went by and drugs weren’t my primary income,” Samuels said in court. “There was no need for me to sell drugs. My fault was associating with the wrong crowd.”

That crowd included his brother, Reynold George Samuels, who was the owner of the Downtown Mall store Sexshuns and the ringleader of the drug conspiracy. Authorities have said Reynold Samuels organized couriers to bring thousands of kilos of marijuana from New York City to Charlottesville over the course of several years. He employed several distributors, including Carl Samuels, to sell the drug locally.

Federal agents raided Sexshuns in February, seizing computer equipment, DVDs and business records from the store. The Samuelses and six others were charged by a federal grand jury in a 15-count indictment that month.

Defense attorney David B. Franzén said in court Monday that Carl Samuels wasn’t as involved in the drug conspiracy as others were and wasn’t present to be part of all of it.

“For a period of time during the conspiracy, Mr. Samuels was incarcerated,” Franzén said in court.

Reynold Samuels, who previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute a controlled substance and copyright infringement, is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 12. He faces up to life in prison and/or a fine of more than $4 million.

Travis McKinsley Barnett and Penny Alisha Miles are scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 26.

Jvon Barnett, Joe Davis Williams III, Reginald Vaughn Bly and Andre Alexander Williams previously were sentenced to prison terms in connection with this case.