Aman Mehari Weldemariam

Introduction

Aman Mehari Weldemariam, a 34-year-old District of Columbia man who owns two Adams Morgan nightlife venues — the Green Island Café and Club Heaven and Hell — has been charged in a two-count federal indictment with unlawful distribution and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine on two occasions, allegations totaling nearly eight pounds of the drug in controlled sales. He was arrested in early November 2026 while, authorities say, in possession of a kilogram of suspected cocaine, and officers recovered loaded firearms contraband and hundreds of Suboxone strips from his home and businesses. The charges are unproven; he has not been tried.

Background Information

The indictment, unsealed in U.S. District Court under case number 26cr251, alleges that on July 16, 2026, Weldemariam distributed more than 500 grams of methamphetamine, and that on August 3, 2026, he did so again — each count a separate 500-gram-plus distribution offense. Prosecutors allege he distributed a total of nearly eight pounds of methamphetamine in controlled sales, meaning the government’s buyers were working with law enforcement. At the time of the alleged offenses he was already on probation for prior drug-related convictions: a 2017 conviction in Fairfax County, Virginia, and a 2020 conviction in Richmond County.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Charged, not convicted. Weldemariam has been indicted but not tried. Every allegation in this section comes from the indictment and the arrest announcement; he is presumed innocent, and no charge has been adjudicated.

The arrest happened the same morning the indictment was announced: officers took Weldemariam into custody outside a residential apartment building in Northeast Washington, D.C., where, according to the announcement, he was in possession of a kilogram of suspected cocaine powder. A search of his residence recovered a fully loaded firearm and approximately 140 Suboxone strips, and searches of his two businesses — the Green Island Café and Club Heaven and Hell, both in Adams Morgan — recovered an additional 200 Suboxone strips, a digital scale, and narcotics packaging material, the inventory of a working distribution operation.

Weldemariam made his initial appearance the same afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya and was held pending a Wednesday detention hearing. The case is prosecuted by the Violent Crime and Narcotics Trafficking Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said in the announcement, “Methamphetamine destroys lives, fuels crime, and threatens the safety of our communities,” and alleged that the defendant “distributed large quantities of this dangerous drug while operating businesses in the heart of the District.”

Public Reaction and Consequences

The case lands on a visible D.C. business owner whose venues — a café and a club named Heaven and Hell — are fixtures of the Adams Morgan nightlife strip, and the announcement makes the overlap between his business role and the alleged trafficking explicit. The immediate consequences are pretrial: detention pending the Wednesday hearing, a two-count indictment carrying the 500-gram meth thresholds that drive long guideline ranges, and the probation violations his alleged conduct would trigger from the Fairfax and Richmond County cases. No conviction exists, and the government’s evidence — controlled sales, seized cocaine, the firearm, and the Suboxone inventory — awaits the court process.

Current Status

Weldemariam is held pending his detention hearing following his initial appearance before Judge Upadhyaya. The indictment’s two counts each allege distribution of 500 grams or more of methamphetamine on July 16 and August 3, 2026. No trial date or plea is stated in the announcement; this page will be updated as the case proceeds.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The indictment puts both of his businesses at immediate risk — a club owner charged with trafficking methamphetamine out of the nightlife district where he operates faces license, lease, and patron consequences regardless of the outcome, and the firearm and drug seizures give prosecutors detention leverage before trial. If convicted on both counts, the 500-gram thresholds and his prior drug convictions point toward a lengthy federal sentence, and the alleged probation violations expose him to state sentences on the 2017 and 2020 convictions as well.

Sources

• U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia, “Federal Indictment Charges Adams Morgan Club Owner in Methamphetamine Trafficking,” November 3, 2026. source