Final defendants sentenced to prison in Dumfries hotel drug trafficking conspiracy

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Rashard Perrish Smith, 34, of Baltimore, Maryland, was sentenced today to 18 years and four months in prison for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and cocaine. Co-defendant Joshua Roderick, 41, of Alexandria, was sentenced on Sept. 18 to 15 years and 10 months in prison.

According to court documents, beginning in at least February 2024, Smith and Roderick visited and sometimes resided in the Red Carpet Inn in Dumfries. The Red Carpet Inn, operated by co-defendants Kosha Sharma, 53, and her husband Tarun Sharma, 55, was known in the area as a place where narcotics and commercial sex could be purchased. Kosha and Tarun Sharma channeled illegal activity, including drug trafficking and prostitution, to the third floor and restricted access to that floor to shield the illegal activity from the view of law enforcement and the public. Smith and Roderick regularly sold narcotics, including fentanyl and cocaine, to customers at the Red Carpet Inn. On multiple occasions during the conspiracy, guests overdosed at the hotel. At least two of those overdoses in 2025 were fatal, and Kosha Sharma found both victims' bodies in third-floor rooms.

Between March 2025 and January 2026, the FBI, Virginia State Police, and Prince William County Police Department conducted a series of undercover operations at the hotel, including twelve controlled purchases of fentanyl from co-defendant Margo Waldon Pierce, 51, who distributed approximately 280.69 grams of fentanyl to undercover officers. For several of these transactions, Roderick provided the fentanyl sold by Pierce.

Smith and Roderick repeatedly distributed narcotics, including fentanyl, to women who engaged in commercial sex on the third floor of the Red Carpet Inn in exchange for a portion of their profits.

Pierce pled guilty on May 13 to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and was sentenced on Sept. 10 to four years in prison.

Kosha Sharma pled guilty on May 28 to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and managing a drug-involved premises. She was sentenced on Sept. 17 to 10 years and 10 months in prison. Tarun Sharma pled guilty on June 3 to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and managing a drug-involved premises. He was sentenced today to seven years in prison. Kosha and Tarun Sharma are illegally present in the United States and will be turned over to ICE following the completion of their sentences.

Theophani K. Stamos, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Jeffrey L. Tyler, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office's Criminal Division; Col. Jeffrey S. Katz, Superintendent of Virginia State Police; and Col. Peter Newsham, Chief of Prince William County Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles.

Assistance was provided by the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Megan Braun and Catherine Rosenberg prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District CourtLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACERLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. by searching for Case No. 1-26-cr-30.