A 59-year-old man from Auburn, Washington, Johnny Elias, has been sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for his involvement in manufacturing and distributing fentanyl pills. The sentencing took place in U.S. District Court in Seattle and was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller.
Elias was arrested in November 2024 after law enforcement discovered he had purchased an industrial pill press and was buying drugs, including fentanyl, from another individual under investigation. Authorities later found that Elias had converted his garage into a pill manufacturing lab.
At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge James L. Robart stated, “You were a counselor to at-risk youth and at the same time were engaged in a practice that was killing one to two young people each day…. These are not recreational drugs. They are basically – in the case of fentanyl – a murder weapon.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Miller commented on Elias’s operation: “This defendant claimed to be operating a vitamin manufacturing business, when in fact he was manufacturing potentially deadly fentanyl pills. To protect his drug business, he possessed two loaded handguns and a loaded rifle. Those firearms and his $16,000 pill manufacturing machine are being forfeited to the government.”
David F. Reames, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Seattle Field Division, described the impact of Elias’s activities: “The deadly nature of the four kilograms of fentanyl powder that Mr. Elias was manufacturing into pills is easy to count: It could have yielded over 300,000 lethal doses. Mr. Elias clearly knew the dangers of his scheme and took steps to protect himself from overdose and violence, callously disregarding these dangers he foisted on others. I am proud that DEA and our partners could protect our community from him and this sentence ensures that he will not threaten our health and safety for a long time.”
Investigators determined that between October 2023 and September 2024, Elias operated as a drug trafficker under the company name ‘Bodacious Vitamins LLC’ at his Auburn address. He used proceeds from drug sales to buy an industrial-grade pill press costing more than $16,000.
On November 18, 2024, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration raided Elias’s home and found his garage set up as a pill lab containing four kilograms of blue fentanyl powder along with manufactured pills containing both fentanyl and heroin. The site also included scales and baggies for packaging drugs for sale as well as Narcan—an overdose reversal medication—indicating awareness of the risks involved.
In March 2025, Elias pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture and distribute, unlawful possession of firearms, and money laundering.
Prosecutor Max Shiner wrote to the court requesting a longer sentence: “Johnny Elias distributed kilogram quantities of fentanyl pills and worked his way up to having a functioning pill press operation in which he could use fentanyl powder and cutting agents to produce thousands of counterfeit M30 Oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl for distribution throughout Western Washington…. The possession of firearms in connection with his drug trafficking greatly increases the severity of the offense. Like his possession of Narcan at his basement drug lab, Elias’ possession of firearms shows his awareness of the dangerousness of his drug dealing.”
Judge Robart also ordered four years of supervised release following Elias’s prison term.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Max Shiner.
