Alexander Arellano has been sentenced to federal prison for distributing significant amounts of fentanyl in the Atlanta area while armed. This announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney Richard S. Moultrie, Jr., who stated: “Fentanyl traffickers pose a tremendous threat to public safety especially when they illegally possess firearms in furtherance of their drug trafficking crimes. Defendants like Arellano who peddle this poison in our communities are being held accountable, including through lengthy prison sentences, thanks to the collaborative work of our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners.”
Jae W. Chung, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division, commented on the case, adding that “Arellano endangered countless lives by trafficking large quantities of deadly fentanyl. The success of this investigation is proof that those destroying our communities with fentanyl will be held accountable.”
The charges and information presented in court revealed that on May 3, 2024, DEA special agents observed Arellano selling half a kilogram of fentanyl in a gas station parking lot in Marietta. Agents tracked him to an apartment on Windy Hill Road, where they arrested him. A federal search warrant led to the discovery of 10 kilograms of fentanyl, two loaded firearms, and $120,000 in cash in a bedroom belonging to Arellano, who was on probation for a prior methamphetamine trafficking conviction.
Alexander Arellano, 25, of Atlanta, was sentenced on April 14, 2025, by U.S. District Judge William M. Ray II to 13 years and three months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release. He was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, having pleaded guilty on August 29, 2024.
The case was investigated by the DEA with assistance from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Cobb County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bethany L. Rupert prosecuted the case.
For more information, contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6280. More details can be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia's website at http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.