Rhode Island man gets 20 years after one of the state's largest fentanyl seizures
A Rhode Island man will spend two decades in prison for producing and intending to distribute tens of thousands of fentanyl-laced pills disguised as pain medication, the Justice Department announced.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. sentenced Jorge Pimentel, also known as "Big Head," to 20 years behind bars after he pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island said in a statement. Law enforcement seized 19,315 fentanyl-laced pills in what federal prosecutors described as one of Rhode Island's largest fentanyl seizures.
"The seizure of a combined total of over sixteen kilograms of fentanyl-laced pills and fentanyl powder, an industrial grade high-speed pill press, and twenty-eight thousand grams of cutting agents used in the manufacturer of the fake pill seized in September 2023, is among the largest seizures of fentanyl in Rhode Island," federal prosecutors said.
In addition to the pills, federal prosecutors said Pimentel, 36, of Cranston, Rhode Island, had enough fentanyl powder in his drug lab and stash house to create more than 633,000 laced pills.
Pimentel's operation netted him $37,000 in sales, prosecutors added.
Pimentel was "not a target of an investigation that came to the FBI’s attention by happenstance," prosecutors said. "He had been the target of narcotics trafficking by the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other state and federal agencies for years."
Prosecutors: Man created dangerous pills in shoddy lab
According to a sentencing memorandum prosecutors filed, federal prosecutors said Pimentel knew the pills had fentanyl because he made them and went to great lengths to make them resemble Percocet.
"Defendant produced his poison in a dirty storage unit," federal prosecutors wrote. "It wasn’t a lab where formulas were measured. There was no scientific formula. Drugs were mixed with blenders, sisters, and red Solo cups."
Prosecutors added that Pimentel worked with several associates to distribute the pills, such as a runner whom he hired around the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prosecutors said Pimentel often had the runner grab pills from the storage unit and deliver them to a customer.
When Pimentel created the pills, sometimes as many as 10,000 at a time, he'd have the runner clean up the storage unit, according to court papers. He paid the runner a "few hundred dollars" per delivery and for working in the shop.
Federal prosecutors said Pimentel was a "well-established, large-scale fentanyl trafficker" by the time an undercover agent with the FBI organized four controlled sales between May 2023 and September 2023.
In a letter addressed to McConnell, Pimentel said he's learned about the harm drug abuse has on people and accepted responsibility for his actions.
"The ripple effect of crimes such as drugs in a community is undeniable," he wrote. "It wasn't until I was locked in my cell having to get in-tuned with myself that I had a revelation, forcing me to acknowledge my contribution to the harm suffered by the community."
Fentanyl kills thousands of Americans each year
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid used in medical facilities, in small doses, for pain relief, according to Henry Ford Health. Its pain-relieving properties can be addictive and lead to overdose and death.
"Fentanyl is becoming so common and it’s finding its way into other drugs sold illegally," said Dr. Tyler Trahan, who is an internal medicine doctor and addiction specialist at Henry Ford Health. "It’s showing up in counterfeit pain pills, and even in drugs like cocaine and street marijuana."
Law enforcement agencies across the country have uncovered drug labs where they said people are creating synthetic pills. In Arizona, a multi-agency drug bust in Phoenix uncovered more than 1,600 pounds of meth, 735,000 fentanyl pills and 47 pounds of fentanyl power in January, enough to kill more than 15 million people, the state's Department of Public Safety said. Arizona has about 7.6 million residents.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 79,358 people died from a synthetic opioid overdose in 2023. Measures are in place to help people struggling with addiction, such as fentanyl test strips and the use of Narcan to rescue a person currently overdosing on opioids.
Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at knurse@USATODAY.com. Follow her on X @KrystalRNurse, and on BlueSky @krystalrnuse.bsky.social.