Source: Office of United States Attorneys
WASHINGTON – Edward Steven Monge, 22, of Beltsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to participating in a fentanyl distribution conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Washington Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). Monge pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to an information charging him with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
Monge faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes. A sentencing date is pending. The prison term will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
According to the government’s evidence, between February and August 2023 Monge sold more than 4,500 pills containing fentanyl to Jennifer Echeverria Flores, 26, of Silver Spring. Echeverria Flores then sold the pills to a DEA undercover agent on five separate occasions between February 17 and July 19, 2023, in the District and Maryland. The pills were blue, marked “M” on one side, and “30” on the other. The total approximate weight of the pills was 479 grams.
Echeverria Flores was arrested on July 31, 2023. On August 3, 2023, law enforcement arrested Monge in Hyattsville, MD, pursuant to an outstanding arrest warrant for him from Fairfax County, VA. Officers searched Monge and found him carrying about 1,102 pills, which field tested positive for the presence of fentanyl. Monge was arrested on a federal arrest warrant on September 11, 2023.
Echeverria Flores pleaded guilty in December to the drug conspiracy charge. She is scheduled to be sentenced March 19.
This case was investigated by the DEA.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Javier Urbina and Jordan Leiter, with valuable assistance provided by Assistant U.S. Attorney David T. Henek.