Fentanyl Trafficker Sentenced to 10 Years in Narcotics Conspiracy, PPP and Unemployment Insurance Fraud

            WASHINGTON – Teron Deandre McNeil, 35, of the District of Columbia, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 120 months in federal prison for his role in a narcotics trafficking conspiracy that smuggled tens of thousands of fentanyl pills from California to the D.C. area, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

            McNeil, aka “Wild Boy,” pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. In addition to the 120-month prison term, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered McNeil to serve five years of supervised release.

            Joining U.S. Attorney Pirro in the announcement were DEA Special Agent in Charge Christopher C. Goumenis of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington Division, Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division, and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department. 

            The impetus for this investigation was the overdose death of Diamond Lynch, a young mother in Southeast D.C. In addition to investigating and prosecuting the death-resulting case,[1] law enforcement followed the evidence and uncovered a vast network of traffickers who transported fentanyl from Mexico to Los Angeles to the District of Columbia. Since then, investigators have seized more than 450,000 fentanyl pills, 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl powder, and 30 firearms.  

            According to court documents, McNeil entered into the conspiracy after he was introduced to a Los Angeles-based drug trafficker, who was a distributor of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills. McNeil traveled to Southern California to purchase the fake oxycodone from the L.A. supplier and returned to the District with the drugs. McNeil and his co-conspirators employed two primary methods to transport the pills to the District: they smuggled them in luggage or carry-on items on airline flights, or they shipped the pills utilizing the U.S. Postal Service and commercial mail carriers

            On December 7, 2021, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service intercepted a package mailed from Carson, California, addressed to John Turner in Southeast D.C. The parcel contained more than 1,000 blue pills, weighing approximately 122 grams in aggregate. The pills tested positive for fentanyl analogue. Payment records reveal that McNeil sent two payments to the L.A.-based drug trafficker via Apple Pay in the weeks preceding and following the interdiction. Further, call records for McNeil revealed that he called the L.A.-based drug trafficker about 30 times from December 5-8, 2021, including after the package was seized.

            When he would successfully transported fentanyl-laced pills back to the District, McNeil redistributed them for profit.

            After entering into the narcotics conspiracy, McNeil fraudulently applied for and unlawfully received $11,151 unemployment insurance funds from California and $33,236 in unemployment from Maryland.

            McNeil also fraudulently applied for and received a $20,833 forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loan from the Small Business Administration (SBA) during the COVID-19 pandemic. His co-conspirators received more than $83,300 in PPP loans.

           These prosecutions followed a joint investigation by the DEA Washington Division and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division, in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The investigation had additional support from the DEA’s Los Angeles, San Diego, and Riverside Field Divisions, the FBI Washington Field Office, and the Charles County, Maryland, Sheriff’s Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Central and Southern Districts of California, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the District of Maryland.

            The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Kinskey, Solomon S. Eppel, and Iris McCranie of the Violence Crime and Narcotics Trafficking Section.

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