CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A Dunbar drug dealer pled guilty to federal drug crimes, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Samuel Manriquez, 33, entered his guilty plea to distribution of furanyl fentanyl and U-47700. Furanyl fentanyl is an analog of fentanyl and U-477001 is a synthetic opioid. The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF") and the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team (“MDENT").
“The safety of a community is always at risk when there are drug transactions, and those risks are heightened when drug transactions involve firearms," said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “We are utilizing every resource at our disposal to take back the streets from violent poison peddlers, drug thugs and trigger pullers."
Manriquez admitted that on May 8, 2017, on Delaware Avenue in Charleston he sold a confidential informant U-47700 and Furanyl Fentanyl. He also admitted that there was a firearm present during the drug transaction. Manriquez admitted that on the same date and at the same location, he sold another confidential informant U-47700.
Manriquez faces up to forty years in federal prison when he is sentenced on Oct. 23, 2019. United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. presided over the plea hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Ryan A. Saunders is handling the prosecution.
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
