Two People Charged in Pot Conspiracy

Alexandria Police have charged two people for conspiracy to distribute  marijuana, commit racketeering, launder money and import the marijuana into Virginia.

The offenses charged against James Hunter Hutchings, 31, and India Denise Powell, 30, carry a minimum punishment of 15 years in prison. The importation charge carries a three-year mandatory minimum sentence.

These charges come following a nearly year-long undercover narcotics investigation between the and the Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, along with other law enforcement agencies from Virginia, Maryland and Arizona. 

The defendants allegedly were importing several hundred pounds of marijuana into Alexandria and the Washington metropolitan region from the Tucson, Ariz., area. Detectives seized approximately 100 pounds of high-grade marijuana in this case during the course of this investigation, according to the Alexandria police. 

Hutchings is being held without bond at the Alexandria jail. Powell is being held at the Prince George’s County Adult Detention Center, awaiting extradition to Alexandria. A third defendant, Ernest Earl Hemby, 41, remains at-large and is wanted on four felony indictments of distributing marijuana, conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to launder money and the importation of more than five pounds of marijuana into Virginia.