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Cranston man pleads guilty to selling fake oxycodone laced with fentanyl

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Sunday, December 22, 2024

Cranston man pleads guilty to selling fake oxycodone laced with fentanyl

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U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha | U.S. Department of Justice

A Cranston man has admitted to leading a conspiracy involving the sale and distribution of tens of thousands of fentanyl-laced fake Oxycodone pills. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

Jorge Pimentel, also known as "Big Head," aged 35, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, as well as possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

Court information revealed that between May 31, 2023, and September 29, 2023, Pimentel arranged sales and deliveries of the fentanyl-laced pills. He received $37,000 for approximately 34,000 pills in monitored transactions. These transactions were overseen by members of the FBI’s Rhode Island Safe Streets Task Force who subsequently seized the deliveries.

Pimentel was arrested on September 29, 2023. A search authorized by the court at a storage unit he rented in Pawtucket led to the seizure of around 8,968 grams of powdered fentanyl; 3405.1 grams of fentanyl in pill form (19,315 pills); and a high-speed pill press among other items.

The counterfeit Oxycodone pills containing fentanyl were marketed to resemble legitimate drugs.

Sentencing for Pimentel is set for March 13, 2024. The sentence will be determined by a federal district judge considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutory factors. No plea agreement has been filed.

Assistant United States Attorney Stacey A. Erickson is prosecuting the case.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Rhode Island Safe Streets Task Force with assistance from the Pawtucket Police Department. The task force includes agents and officers from multiple law enforcement agencies including Rhode Island State Police and several local police departments along with the U.S. Marshals Service.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), aimed at reducing violent crime through collaboration between law enforcement levels and communities served since its strategy update on May 26, 2021.

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