The man helped install security cameras inside the motel to monitor for police and to prevent workers from their stealing drugs.
DALLAS — A North Texas man pleaded guilty on Thursday to his involvement in trafficking drugs out of a Dallas motel room, according to federal authorities.
Kenan Bernard Allen, also known as “King,” was charged in April 2023 and indicted the following month.
The 38-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas said in a news release.
According to court documents, Allen and several accomplices ran a “trap room” at a Dallas motel, where they cut, packaged and distributed fentanyl, heroin, crack cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs.
“Mr. Allen and other violent drug traffickers dispersed huge quantities of deadly drugs and assaulted their customers. They preyed on users’ crippling addictions, raking in money hand over fist,” said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton.
Allen and others carried handguns and AK-47-style rifles, authorities said. They installed security cameras inside the motel to monitor for police and to prevent workers from stealing drugs out of the trap rooms, according to court documents.
Police said surveillance video showed children as young as three years old coming in and out of the trap rooms in the motel, where powdered fentanyl was being placed into capsules by workers and then sold to customers.
The surveillance video also picked up violent incidents involving Allen.
According to court documents, Allen and several others restrained a victim in the breezeway of a hotel and used a broom handle and a trash can to strike the victim in the face and body. On another occasion, an accomplice used a lighter to burn the foot of a female customer who had passed out after ingesting drugs she had purchased in the room.
On April 19, 2023, law enforcement executed a search warrant inside two trap rooms inside the motel. Investigators recovered more than two kilograms of methamphetamine, 108 grams of fentanyl, 198 grams of heroin, 168 grams of cocaine, 1,183 grams of marijuana, 44.8 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, 23 grams of hydrocodone, 6 grams of morphine, 15 grams of alprazolam, 2.6 grams of PCP, seven handguns and an AK-47 style rifle, along with a ballistic vest and multiple drug scales.
Allen faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a $5 million fine. He is set to be sentenced on March 7, 2025.