Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
RALEIGH, N.C. – An Arizona man was sentenced today to 9 years in prison for trafficking fentanyl pills in the Eastern District of North Carolina. Dakota Henderson, 26, pled guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Forty Grams or More of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Fentanyl and Distribution of Forty grams or more of a Mixture and Substance Containing a Detectable Amount of Fentanyl on October 10, 2024.
According to court documents and other information presented in court, law enforcement determined that Henderson was part of a group that obtained fentanyl pills from California and Arizona and then transported them to the Raleigh area for distribution.
In March 2024, law enforcement searched a hotel room rented in Henderson’s name and found approximately 5,912 fentanyl pills, a drum magazine loaded with 32 rounds of ammunition, and over $1,000 in U.S. currency. Several weeks later, Henderson was observed by law enforcement, armed with a firearm, collecting money from a drug debt and delivering an additional 2,000 suspected fentanyl pills to a confidential informant.
This investigation was an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
Daniel P. Bubar, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Raleigh Police Department, the Cary Police Department, and the United States Postal Inspection Service investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey L. Peaden prosecuted the case.
Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:24-CR-200-D-004.
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