Springfield Drug Kingpin Gets 20 Years In Federal Prison

ALEXANDRIA, VA – A Springfield man received a 20-year sentence Friday in federal prison for distributing more than 5 kilograms of cocaine and brandishing a firearm, according to federal prosecutors.

The prosecutors say that Aidriss Saydi, 36, was one of the largest drug dealers in Northern Virginia during the past decade, traveling to other states with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to purchase narcotics that were later shipped to him.

Saydi led a conspiracy involving dozens of people to receive drug shipments on his behalf, prosecutors said.

"When shipments became more difficult given the quantity of drugs he was distributing, Saydi purchased his own plane to carry drugs to Virginia," they added.

In April 2018, fearing that law enforcement was closing in on him, Saydi ordered a co-conspirator to hide nearly a kilogram of cocaine, 30 pounds of marijuana and a stolen handgun, which were later found by law enforcement, say prosecutors.

"When the buried contraband could not be found, Saydi repeatedly beat his co-conspirator with another weapon, fearing that his co-conspirator had stolen them from him," they said.

U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady handed down the sentence Friday in the federal court in Alexandria. As part of his sentence, Saydi agreed to forfeit $1 million and multiple vehicles.

(For more information on this and other Alexandria stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)