Philadelphia Man Who Sold Fentanyl That Killed Newark Man Sentenced To Twenty Years In Prison

WILMINGTON, Del. – A Philadelphia man was sentenced yesterday to 20 years in prison for distributing fentanyl that caused the death of Joel Davis, a 29-year-old Newark man. 

According to court documents, Emanuel Jimenez, who is a citizen of the Dominican Republic but was living in the United States under the false identity of “Robin Cintron-Pratts,” was a large-scale heroin dealer.  For several months in 2016-2017, he delivered 13,000 baggies of heroin per week to James Briggs of Wilmington.  In February 2017, the defendant delivered fentanyl-laced heroin to Briggs, who sold some of those drugs to Abdoulaye Diallo, who then sold several baggies to one of Joel Davis’s friends.  The friend gave four of the baggies to Joel Davis, who used them and then died as a result of fentanyl intoxication.  Diallo and Briggs were separately charged.  Briggs was sentenced on September 9, 2019 to ten years incarceration; Diallo was convicted and is pending sentencing.

When the defendant heard that someone had overdosed from his drugs, he explained to a customer: “You know what happens?  People, they do it… they didn’t feel it like that quick, so they think the shit not good so they do it over and over.  And like 20 minutes later… oh shit” “This shit happened like a couple times with me.”

According to United States Attorney David C. Weiss, “Since the introduction of fentanyl, selling heroin is like playing Russian roulette with others’ lives.  As the defendant well knew, people are dying every day using the product he was selling.  Today’s sentence sends an important message to heroin dealers: making a quick profit is simply not worth the prospect of spending decades in prison.  This case was part of the impetus for the First State Overdose Task Force, and we will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute people whose drugs are killing Delawareans.”

"Jimenez was a drug-trafficker who distributed thousands of bags of heroin and fentanyl weekly across Wilmington," said Jonathan A. Wilson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) Philadelphia Field Division.   "He was also the source of fentanyl-laced heroin bags that resulted in a fatal overdose.  The DEA will continue to work with our law-enforcement partners to aggressively investigate significant drug-traffickers like Jimenez who pose a great threat to the health and safety of the citizens of Delaware."

The U.S. Attorney made the announcement after sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Leonard P. Stark.  Before imposing sentence, the Court said, “The defendant knew that people were overdosing. It’s not a stretch to say that he knew that overdosing could mean death.  And none of that stopped him, nor is there any indication that it bothered him.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer K. Welsh prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Agency’s First State Overdose Task Force in partnership with, among others, the New Castle County Police Department.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the District of Delaware or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:17-cr-0022-1(LPS) and 1:17-cr-0023-1(LPS).