Parkville Felon Sentenced For West Virginia Federal Drug For Gun Scheme

Thursday, September 18, 2025, 4:00 P.M. ET. 1 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

MARTINSBURG, W.VA.- On Monday, a 31-year-old Parkville, Maryland, man, a previously convicted armed robber, was sentenced to over a decade in federal prison for committing federal firearms and drug offenses for a “Drugs For Guns” scheme over a Social Media platform.

     According to Acting U.S. Attorney Randolph J. Bernard, on Monday, September 15, 2025, John Ryan Zajac, 31, of Parkville, Maryland, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Ginia M. Groh to 135 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance, Cocaine; and Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person.

According To Court Documents

     According to charging documents and statements made in the District Court, after learning of a scheme for trading illicit narcotics for firearms, which was being posted on a Social Media platform, federal investigators launched an investigation. Investigators arrested Zajac as he attempted to trade and recovered cocaine and a 9mm handgun from his person.

     Federal law prohibits a person with a prior felony conviction from owning or possessing a firearm or ammunition. Zajac knew that when he possessed the 9mm and attempted to trade the cocaine for a firearm, he was a prohibited person due to his prior convictions for armed robbery and firearms offenses.

     Acting U.S. Attorney Bernard commended the investigative work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, which led to the successful prosecution of Zajac.