Two men from Sauk County, Wisconsin, have been sentenced for their involvement in a fentanyl pill trafficking operation. The announcement was made by Chadwick M. Elgersma, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin.
Kenneth O. Phillips, 40, of Wisconsin Dells, received a six-year federal prison sentence on November 21, 2025. He will also serve four years of supervised release after his prison term. Phillips pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute fentanyl on September 5, 2025.
Brandon S. Stevens, 44, of Reedsburg, was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison on November 20, with three years of supervised release to follow. Stevens pleaded guilty to the same charge on September 4.
According to investigators, Ames Basham mailed parcels containing fentanyl pills from California to Phillips, Chrystal Mueller (another co-defendant), and Stevens at various addresses in Wisconsin for local distribution. The pills were blue and marked “M30,” resembling prescription Oxycodone but actually contained fentanyl and other substances. Nineteen parcels were sent between January and April 2022; several were intercepted by the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) in March and April and found to contain fentanyl pills.
Phillips was identified as the local leader who provided addresses for Basham to send drug parcels into Wisconsin. Stevens worked as a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service and would pick up these parcels along his route before delivering them to his partner Mueller. He also identified an abandoned residence on his route where drugs could be mailed undetected. Phillips and Mueller then sold the pills locally.
At the time of these offenses, Phillips was under state supervision following a battery conviction.
During sentencing hearings, Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson remarked that although Stevens was the least culpable among those involved, he still played a significant role: "his conduct was a gross violation of the trust placed in him as a mail carrier." Regarding Phillips’s role as group leader, Judge Peterson said "the crime was very serious because of the dangers of introducing counterfeit OxyContin pills containing fentanyl into the community."
Co-defendants Ames Basham and Chrystal Mueller have both pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
The investigation included efforts from multiple agencies: United States Postal Inspection Service; Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation; Sauk County Sheriff’s Office; and Wisconsin State Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven P. Anderson prosecuted the case.
Federal prosecutions like this are part of Operation Take Back America—a national initiative by the U.S. Department of Justice aiming to address illegal immigration issues, eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect communities from violent crime perpetrators.
