U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe | U.S. Department of Justice
Blake Alfonso Kolessa, a 27-year-old resident of Greenacres, Florida, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks delivered the sentence on December 10, following Kolessa's guilty plea for possessing with intent to distribute metonitazene, N-desethyl isotonitazene, and methamphetamine. After serving his prison term, Kolessa will undergo five years of supervised release.
Kolessa admitted to selling thousands of pills containing these substances between January and June 2024. He also confessed to possessing over six kilograms of powders and pills containing fentanyl, protonitazene, and N-pyrrolidino protonitazene.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Deanne Reuter of the DEA Miami Field Division, and West Palm Beach Police Chief Tony Araujo.
The case was investigated by the DEA West Palm Beach and the West Palm Beach Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Funk prosecuted the case.
According to the DEA’s National Drug Threat Assessment, nitazenes are synthetic opioids that can match or exceed fentanyl's potency. These substances have been found in fentanyl mixtures in the United States since 2019. When combined with fentanyl, they increase the risk of fatal drug poisoning significantly.
Fentanyl is recognized as a potent synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Even small doses can be lethal; just two milligrams can be fatal. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are leading causes of overdose deaths in the country. Over 150 people die daily from overdoses related to these drugs.
Florida has experienced a significant rise in fentanyl-related overdoses. In 2022 alone, more than 5,622 individuals died from overdoses involving fentanyl and its analogs in the state.
For further information on this topic or related court documents, visit www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl or www.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 24-cr-80077.
