Man sentenced for shooting machine guns to protect drug territory

WASHINGTON - A 28-year-old man convicted of shooting off machine guns to fend off threats to his D.C. street crew's drug dealing territory – while on supervised parole for a 2010 murder – has been sentenced to nearly 20 years. 

Trenton Robinson, 28, of District Heights, Maryland pleaded guilty on October 24, 2023 to one count of brandishing a firearm in relation to drug trafficking, and one count of discharging a firearm in relation to drug trafficking. He was sentenced Friday to 234 months in prison. 

Robinson, aka "Zulu," admitted as part of his plea agreement that he shot a machine gun at the driver of a vehicle passing through his crew's drug dealing territory on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020. He also admitted that he and his crew possessed between 25 and 99 firearms between June 2019 and September 2020.

Robinson was on supervised parole at the time of the crimes in 2020 for a second degree murder from 2010. Robinson and an accomplice murdered a 19-year-old man while attempting to rob him.

"This drug trafficker used a machine gun to spray bullets in the direction of a car passing through his drug dealing territory," said U.S. Attorney Graves. "The hail of gunfire, which injured one person, miraculously did not kill anyone. Federally prosecuting those who, like this defendant, are driving violence is critical to protecting our community."