Sterling woman sentenced to 12 years for trafficking drugs, giving felons firearms

STERLING, Va. ( DC News Now ) — A woman from Sterling was sentenced to 12 years in prison for trafficking drugs and helping a felon purchase firearms.

The Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) said that Kaitlyn Marie Hammond, her husband Carrington Hammond and a co-conspirator Mohamed Amine Haddou “received frequent and large shipments of drugs through USPS, UPS, and FedEx from suppliers Aaron Mitchell and Iram Leyva in Arizona” from “at least” June 2022 until August 2023.

Police had records of 19 of these packages. FCPD said that Mitchell and Leyva sent an average of two packages each month. Each package contained 10,000 to 20,000 counterfeit pills with fentanyl and one to two kilograms of cocaine. FCPD said that one package received in July of 2023 had 50,000 fentanyl pills in it.

FCPD said that the trio redistributed these drugs — including cocaine, powdered fentanyl and counterfeit pills including fentanyl — throughout Virginia.

On Aug. 10, 2023, federal officers searched an apartment in Alexandria and found 2.2 kilograms of fentanyl powder, 50,000 counterfeit pills made of fentanyl, 1.7 kilograms of cocaine and 2.5 kilograms of marijuana. Authorities also found a loaded assault weapon that Kaitlyn Hammond had purchased.

FCPD said that at that time, Kaitlyn Hammond was sharing the apartment with Haddow. Carrington Hammond was incarcerated.

She had a concealed carry permit that allowed her to buy multiple guns in one day. FCPD said she bought “numerous firearms” that she and Carrington Hammond used throughout the conspiracy.

Carrington Hammond was also a convicted felon with pending drug and firearms charges in Maryland. He was not allowed to legally own a gun or any ammunition, but Kaitlyn Hammond still purchased weapons for him.

Police said that Kaitlyn and Carrington Hammond also sold some of these guns for profit. FCPD said that some of those weapons were “later recovered in connection with criminal activity or from individuals prohibited from possessing them.”

Police said that Kaitlyn Hammond also “attempted to intimidate another witness” and keep them from talking to law enforcement in the time between the search and her arrest.

Carrington Hammond pled guilty in October to conspiring to distribute fentanyl and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Haddou, Mitchell and Leyva pled guilty to conspiring to distribute fentanyl. They were sentenced to 10, 14 and 15 years in prison, respectively.

Kaitlyn Hammond was sentenced on Wednesday to 12 years in prison for her charges.

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