A Philadelphia resident, Emmanuel F. Almonte Mejia, has been sentenced to 60 months in prison for his involvement in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl in northern New Jersey. Acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna made the announcement following Mejia's guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden.
Mejia, aged 40, admitted to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. The case documents and court statements reveal that in February 2022, Mejia and his associates operated a drug mill from a private residence in Philadelphia. This operation produced large quantities of bulk fentanyl for redistribution, with law enforcement recovering nearly six kilograms of the substance.
In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Hayden imposed three years of supervised release on Mejia.
Two co-conspirators, Hector Luiz De La Cruz Nunez and Loanny F. Duran Hiciano, also pleaded guilty to similar charges. Nunez received a sentence of 60 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, while Hiciano is awaiting sentencing.
The investigation leading to these sentences was credited by Acting U.S. Attorney Khanna to special agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Newark and Philadelphia offices, along with the New Jersey State Police.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Vincent D. Romano represented the government in this case.
Defense counsel for Mejia was Robert M. Gamburg.
