A Prince George’s County, Maryland, man was sentenced to six years in prison in connection to a fentanyl distribution ring he took part in, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Prosecutors said 33-year-old Garnell Lucas, of Upper Marlboro, pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, according to a Justice Department news release.
On March 29, 2022, the FBI searched a Southeast D.C. apartment where the group operated out of and found more than 516 pills and more than 76 grams of a mixture containing fentanyl.
Law enforcement started to investigate the group, which distributed fentanyl in D.C. and Maryland in August 2021, court documents said. Investigators found that the group used at least three pill presses to make fake prescription pills out of fentanyl.
Prosecutors said that Lucas and others took part in the drug trafficking operation, which lasted from May 2020 to September 2022.
Lucas and the people he worked with disseminated the fake pills in a “coordinated manner. Additionally, they referred customers to one another and worked together to fill orders.
In addition to Lucas’ prison sentence, he is also subject to five years of supervised release.
