NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Portsmouth man is facing more than two decades in prison for his role in a local heroin and fentanyl drug trafficking conspiracy.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said this week that Rhadu Schoolfield was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
Prosecutors say Schoolfield was the chief lieutenant and face of Leroy Perdue’s drug trafficking organization — know as the Perdue DTO.
Schoolfield, 33, managed his own network of distributors and would travel between New York and Baltimore to get raw heroin, and then bring it back to Hampton Roads.
Prosecutors say Schoolfield use his status as a local celebrity and rapper to advertise and recruit for the organization.
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Authorities began looking into the organization in 2016 after someone from Chesapeake died of a drug overdose. An investigative team arrested Schoolfield in Norfolk with 800 grams of heroin he had gotten on a trip to New York.
Prosecutors say the organization as a whole distributed more than 100 kilograms of heroin — equal to 250,000 doses — over a 10-year period.
Twelve other people connected to this drug ring have since pleaded guilty — all but two of which have been sentenced.
Perdue is scheduled to go on trial May 15.
