District of Columbia
Man sentenced to 39 years for 3 D.C. ‘home invasion’ rapes
Prosecutors say suspect ‘elaborately planned’ sexual assaults in Capitol Hill
A D.C. Superior Court judge on April 6 sentenced Bryant Webster, 38, of Suitland, Md., to 39 years in prison just under three years after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting three men in their nearby Capitol Hill apartments in 2016 after entering the apartments through what authorities said were unlocked doors.
“During a 50-day period between August 12 and October 1, 2016, the defendant raped three adult men within blocks of each other,” according to a 27-page sentencing memorandum submitted by prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney urging Superior Court Judge Marisa Demeo to hand down the full sentence of 39 years requested by prosecutors.
The memorandum says Webster committed “multiple acts of elaborately planned, stealth, home invasion rapes” against the three male victims, who he observed and stalked before committing the sexual assaults.
Among other things, the memorandum says Webster somehow found out about the victims’ careers and college backgrounds and knew their names and the name and address of one of their girlfriends. And in at least one case, he entered and looked over the victim’s apartment and stole some of his personal checks before coming back a week or so later to rape him, according to the lengthy memo.
None of the numerous court documents related to the case states whether Webster self-identifies as gay or whether he was involved in any LGBTQ organizations or activities in the D.C. area, where he has lived his entire life.
Thomas Key, who served as Webster’s attorney at the time of the sentencing, did not respond to a request from the Blade for comment on the case.
In court charging documents, prosecutors said there were no signs of a forced entry into any of the apartments that Webster entered and committed the alleged sexual assaults. The charging documents say the victims told police and prosecutors they most likely left their doors unlocked.
The charging documents say Webster forced two of the three victims into submitting to his sexual assault by threatening them with a handgun and after he bound their hands and feet with black duct tape that he pulled out of a backpack he had with him.
He sexually assaulted the third victim, identified in charging documents as P.H., while P.H. was asleep and possibly unconscious on a sofa in the apartment he shared with one of the other two victims, identified as L.K. As he had in the other incident, Webster somehow entered the apartment of P.H. and L.K. on different occasions without breaking in, the charging documents say.
Police later analyzed video that Webster took with his phone, which police obtained at the time of his arrest, showing him performing oral sex on the unconscious P.H.
“Additional images captured the defendant taking a ‘selfie’ with the defendant’s mouth on P.H.’s penis, the defendant wearing pink gloves manipulating P.H.’s genitals, and the defendant’s penis next to P.H.’s face,” the U.S. Attorney’s sentencing memorandum states. “These images were taken all while P.H. remained asleep or otherwise unconscious,” the memo says.
The charging documents and sentencing memo describe in detail how Webster’s sexual assault of L.K., the last of the three men he’s charged with sexually assaulting, led to his arrest. The documents say Webster entered the apartment where L.K., P.H. and two other roommates lived just after midnight on Oct. 1, 2016, through an apparent unlocked door.
At gunpoint, he ordered L.K. into L.K.’s bedroom, ordered him to take off his clothes, ordered him onto his bed, and bound his hands and feet with duct tape, the charging documents continue. He then removed his own pants and underpants and proceeded to rape L.K., the charging documents say. As the sexual assault continued, both L.K. and Webster heard someone enter the apartment, prompting Webster to lock the bedroom door.
Knowing the person who entered the apartment was one of his roommates, L.K. waited for Webster to let down his guard, the charging documents say. When he saw that Webster put his gun down on the bed, L.K. managed to break free of the duct tape on his hands, grabbed the gun, and screamed for his roommate to help him as he and Webster struggled for the gun. According to the charging documents and the sentencing memo, the roommate forced open the locked bedroom door and helped L.K. subdue Webster, allowing L.K. to take the gun, run out of the bedroom and call police, who arrived minutes later and arrested Webster.
He has been held in jail without bond in the five years and six months since the time of his Oct. 1, 2016, arrest, and the time of his sentencing earlier this month on April 6.
In July 2019, two years and nine months after his arrest, Webster pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree sexual abuse while armed and one count of second-degree sexual abuse as part of a plea bargain agreement offered by prosecutors. The plea, which was dependent upon the judge’s approval, called for a sentence of between 32 and 39 years.
Court records show that the sentencing date, which was initially set for September 19, 2019, was postponed repeatedly after Webster, through his attorneys, filed two separate motions to rescind his guilty plea and go to trial. Those motions were denied by the judge, but they and other motions filed by the defense challenging evidence presented by police and prosecutors along with COVID-related delays of court proceedings resulted in the sentencing being delayed two-and-a-half years until April 6 of this year.
The sentencing memorandum says police and prosecutors have obtained evidence through videos and photos on Webster’s phone that he committed sexual assaults on other men while gaining access to their homes, none of whom have been identified. The memo says Webster also allegedly sexually assaulted one of his cellmates at the D.C. jail.
According to the sentencing memo, Webster led a double, “fraudulent” life, appearing to his family and friends as a highly respected upstanding citizen.
“He graduated from college with a degree in psychology,” the memo says. “He worked regularly focusing on jobs where he interacted with people who had trouble faring for themselves like homeless men and special education students,” it says. “He also had a history of working for various hotels and was involved in his church as a minister,” the memo continues.
“However, behind that veneer is an extremely dangerous, sadistic, armed serial rapist,” the memo to the judge concludes. “He stalks people, invades their homes, steals their possessions, and inflicts inconceivable horrors on their body…The danger he poses to the public is multiplied by the fact that he parades as a law abiding, rational, and even kind individual.”
District of Columbia
Activists protest outside Hungarian Embassy in DC
Budapest Pride scheduled to take place Saturday, despite ban
More than two dozen activists gathered in front of the Hungarian Embassy in D.C. on Friday to protest the country’s ban on Budapest Pride and other LGBTQ-specific events.
Amnesty International USA Executive Director Paul O’Brien read a letter that Dávid Vig, executive director of Amnesty International Hungary, wrote.
“For 30 years Budapest Pride has been a celebration of hope, courage, and love,” said Vig in the letter that O’Brien read. “Each march through the streets of Budapest has been a powerful testament to the resilience of those who dare to demand equality, but a new law threatens to erase Pride and silence everyone who demands equal rights for LGBTI people.”
“The Hungarian government’s relentless campaign against LGBTI rights represents a worrying trend that can spread normalizing division and hatred,” added Vig. “Thank you for standing with us when we refuse to be intimidated.”
Council for Global Equality Chair Mark Bromley and two of his colleagues — Stephen Leonelli and Keifer Buckingham — also spoke. Health GAP Executive Director Asia Russell and Chloe Schwenke, a political appointee in the Obama-Biden administration who worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Planned Parenthood staffers are among those who attended the protest.
(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)
Hungarian lawmakers in March passed a bill that bans Pride events and allow authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify those who participate in them. MPs in April amended the Hungarian constitution to ban public LGBTQ events.
Budapest Pride is scheduled to take place on Saturday, despite the ban. Hundreds of European lawmakers are expected to participate.
“Sending strength to the patriotic Hungarians marching tomorrow to advance human dignity and fundamental rights in a country they love,” said David Pressman, the gay former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, on Friday on social media.
Sending strength to the patriotic Hungarians marching tomorrow to advance human dignity and fundamental rights in a country they love. Szabadság és szerelem. My past remarks on Budapest Pride: https://t.co/y1QhA9QouA
— David Pressman (@AmbPressman) June 27, 2025
District of Columbia
Man sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug deal that killed two DC gay men
Prosecutors asked for 210 month sentence
On Thursday Jevaughn Mark, 33, of D.C., was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison for running what prosecutors called a “prolific drug delivery service” that led to the fentanyl overdose deaths of two men in D.C.’s gay community.
The 15-year sentence comes three months after Mark, aka “Ledo,” pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and 500 grams or more of cocaine, as well as unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. As part of the plea deal, Mark accepted responsibility for causing the deaths of Brandon Román and Robert “Robbie” Barletta. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan also ordered five years of supervised release following his prison term.
Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia argued that Mark knowingly sold fentanyl and was at least partially responsible for the men’s deaths. The office had asked the court for a 210-month sentence.
On Dec. 27, 2023, Román, 38, and Barletta, 28, were found unconscious in their Northwest Washington home after a 911 call brought police and emergency responders to the scene. A police investigation later revealed that Román had purchased what he believed was ketamine from Mark. DEA testing of the remaining drugs found no ketamine — only fentanyl, xylazine, and caffeine.
Friends and family members wore rainbow ribbons in solidarity with Román, a prominent D.C. attorney and LGBTQ rights advocate, and Barletta, a historic preservation expert and home renovation business owner — both of whom were active members of Washington’s gay community.
“There is no good outcome here,” Chutkan said from the bench before issuing the sentence. “These people didn’t deserve to die.”
While noting Mark’s “long record,” Chutkan opted for a sentence shorter than what the government had requested, citing what she believed to be genuine remorse.
“I believe Mr. Mark when he wishes he could take it back,” she said.
Following the sentencing, the Washington Blade spoke with Jeanine Pirro, the recently appointed U.S. Attorney for D.C., who echoed the judge’s compassion, but stood by her office’s push for a longer sentence.
“We had asked for more time,” Pirro said. “He’s a felon in possession, and there’s the fentanyl. But he’s got a prior record. There are various other crimes. This guy’s been operating with impunity.”
“My job is to make sure we recognize both Brandon and Robbie with dignity,” she added. “They are two very special human beings who should not have died — and they died as a result of not only someone else’s criminal behavior, but someone else’s reckless behavior in ignoring what he should not have ignored.”
DEA Special Agent in Charge Ibrar Mian emphasized the broader dangers of the drug trade in a written statement.
“The drug market is characterized by the illegal availability of polydrug mixtures, many of which have lethal amounts of fentanyl,” Mian said. “Criminals like Mr. Mark pose a deadly threat by selling drugs with fentanyl, which users unknowingly consume, often leading to their deaths. Illegal drug distribution affects the very foundations of our families and communities, so every time we take criminals like Mr. Mark off the streets, lives are saved.”
Mian also credited the DEA teams, USAO-DC litigators, and local and state partners for their work in investigating and removing “illegal drugs from this individual who was involved in violent activities.”
Asked whether she had a message for the LGBTQ community — statistically more vulnerable to substance use disorders than the general population — Pirro was direct about her commitment to equal justice.
“The only thing I can say to the LGBT community is that there is a level playing field here,” Pirro said. “Everybody gets the same justice. You have a problem, you have an issue, you come to me. I have a long history of fighting for equal rights for everyone. Everyone deserves dignity, everyone deserves protection, and everyone deserves justice — and you’re gonna get that from me.”
District of Columbia
GLAA issues ratings in Ward 8 D.C. Council special election
Declines to rate ousted Council member Trayon White who’s seeking re-election
GLAA D.C., formerly known as the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, announced on June 22 its ratings for three of the four candidates running in the city’s July 15 Ward 8 D.C. Council special election, saying each of the three have records of support for the LGBTQ community.
The election was called earlier this year when the Ward 8 seat became vacant after the Council voted unanimously to expel Ward 8 Council member Trayon White (D) following his arrest by the FBI on a federal bribery charge in August 2024.
White, who has denied any wrongdoing and was released while awaiting his trial scheduled for January 2026, is one of the four candidates running in the special election to regain his seat on the Council. Under D.C. law, he can legally run for office and serve again on the Council if he wins up until the time he is convicted of the criminal offense he is charged with.
While not mentioning White by name, in a statement accompanying its candidate ratings GLAA said it has a policy of not rating any candidates expelled or who resign from an elected position for ethics violations, including “malfeasance.”
The three candidates it rated – Sheila Bunn, Mike Austin, and Salim Adofo – are longtime Ward 8 community advocates who have been involved in local government affairs for many years and, according to LGBTQ activists who know them, have been supportive of LGBTQ rights. All three are running as Democrats.
White also has a record of supporting LGBTQ issues while serving on the Council since 2017.
GLAA rates candidates on a scale of -10, the lowest possible rating, to +10, its highest rating. Since it began candidate ratings in the 1970s it has based the ratings mostly on LGBTQ-related issues.
But in recent years, it has shifted gears to base the ratings mostly on non-LGBTQ specific issues, saying those issues — such as housing, healthcare, and a call for decriminalizing sex work — impact the LGBTQ community as well as all D.C. residents.
The following are the GLAA D.C. ratings for the three Ward 8 candidates it rated:
Sheila Bunn – 7.5
Mike Austin – 6.5
Salim Adofo – 4.5
Bunn is a former staff member for D.C. Congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and has worked for former D.C. Mayor and later D.C. Council member Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7), a longtime strong supporter of the LGBTQ community.
Austin, an attorney, is a former chair of one of the Ward 8 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, served as chief of staff in the office of the D.C. Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, and worked on the staff of former Ward 7 Council member LaRuby May (D).
Adofo has served as a Ward 8 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner since 2018 and chair of his ANC since 2021. His campaign biographical information shows he has been an advocate for affordable housing, improved health care and lower health costs in Ward 8. He is the only one of the Ward 8 special election candidates on the July 15 ballot to express support for LGBTQ rights on his campaign website.
“At the heart of our platform is a steadfast commitment to uplifting LGBTQ+ communities, ensuring that policy is shaped not just for them, but with them,” a statement on his website says.
As of early this week, White did not have a campaign website. He has won re-election for the Ward 8 Council seat in every election since 2017, including the November 2024 election following his August 2024 arrest.
The Capital Stonewall Democrats, D.C.’s largest local LGBTQ political group, which for many years has endorsed candidates running for public office in D.C., decided not to make an endorsement in the Ward 8 special election, according to the group’s president, Howard Garrett.
“We thought that this is best because this is a special election and in these unfamiliar times, we decided not to take a stand,” Garrett told the Washington Blade. But he said his group partnered with the Ward 8 Democrats organization in holding a candidate forum in which the Ward 8 candidates were asked questions “that related to our community.”
Longtime Ward 8 gay Democratic activist Phil Pannell, who is supporting Adofo, said he strongly feels GLAA’s 4.5 rating for Adofo does not reflect Adofo’s strong support for the LGBTQ community.
Fellow Ward 8 gay Democratic activist David Meadows said he is supporting Bunn, who he says also has a strong record of support for the LGBTQ community.
The Blade earlier this week asked each of the four Ward 8 candidates’ campaigns to provide a statement by the candidates explaining their position on LGBTQ issues. As of the end of the business day on June 24, the candidates had not yet responded. The Blade will report on those responses when they are received.
The GLAA ratings and the group’s statement describing the responses to its questionnaire that each of the three candidates it rated submitted can be accessed here:
The websites of the three candidates who have campaign websites, which provide full details of their positions and background, can be accessed here:
Sheila Bunn
Mike Austin
Salim Adofo
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