Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, has announced that Dantrell T. Stevenson from Matteson, Illinois, received a two-year federal prison sentence for his role in conspiring to distribute fentanyl. The sentence was handed down by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson on December 2, 2024. Following his prison term, Stevenson will undergo four years of supervised release after pleading guilty on September 9, 2024.
The investigation uncovered a significant drug trafficking operation responsible for distributing over four kilograms of fentanyl pills into Madison from Arizona. The operation came under scrutiny in January 2022 when authorities intercepted two mail packages containing nearly 20,000 fentanyl pills each sent from Arizona to Madison addresses.
Undercover officers made multiple purchases from the organization between March and October 2022, with Stevenson participating in ten sales during this period. Another package seized in October contained an additional 1.75 kilograms of fentanyl pills intended for the group.
At the time of these offenses, Stevenson was on parole in Illinois following a firearms conviction. During sentencing, Judge Peterson acknowledged that while Stevenson's transactions were smaller than those of his co-defendants, he played an active role as a dealer with harmful community impacts.
Five other individuals connected to this trafficking ring have been sentenced under separate indictments. Dejon C. Glover received a four-and-a-half-year sentence on May 16, 2024; Lloyd M. McKire-Bennett was sentenced to over thirteen and a half years on May 17; Deshawn P. Davis received five and a half years on May 22; Yoshi R. Walker got six years on July 24; and Christopher S. Wilson was sentenced to five years on July 29.
This case results from an extensive investigation by several agencies including the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Drug Enforcement Administration among others within Wisconsin’s law enforcement network like the Dane County Narcotics Task Force and ATF Madison Crime Gun Task Force—part of broader efforts coordinated through OCDETF aimed at tackling long-term narcotics trafficking activities across jurisdictions.
Assistant U.S Attorney Steven P Anderson prosecuted this case effectively leading it through judicial processes culminating in these convictions.