A man from Roanoke has been sentenced to 35 years in federal prison for the robbery and murder of his drug supplier, followed by setting the victim's body ablaze to hide his crime. Joseph Richard Walker, aged 30, admitted guilt to one count of Hobbs Act Robbery and one count related to firearm use in April.
Walker and Garrett Isaac Williams, who is awaiting sentencing for related offenses, were involved in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana from December 2021 to April 2023. They sourced marijuana from a supplier known as E.B., who traveled from Pennsylvania to Roanoke for deliveries. In early 2023, a debt arose, prompting E.B. to try contacting Williams and then Walker, inadvertently engaging Walker's mother.
This led Walker and Williams to plot against E.B., deciding against repayment and instead planning a robbery to deter E.B. from returning. On April 17, 2023, upon receiving a marijuana delivery from E.B., Walker brandished a weapon and mortally shot E.B., subsequently taking the drugs and setting E.B.'s body on fire in Bedford County, Virginia, to obliterate evidence.
The investigation, carried out by multiple law enforcement bodies including the FBI and the Virginia State Police, culminated in Acting United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee announcing the sentence. The case is a segment of "Operation Take Back America," a broader Justice Department initiative aimed at dismantling drug-related crime.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys M. Coleman Adams, Kelly J. McGann, and Drew O. Inman are prosecuting, with the case supported by the Star City Drug and Violent Crime Task Force and various police departments.