Dayton Man Sentenced for Fentanyl Analogue Trafficking

COVINGTON, Ky. – A Dayton, Ohio, man, Germel Hughes, 45, was sentenced on Friday, by Chief U.S. District Judge David Bunning to 222 months in prison, for conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of a fentanyl analogue and aiding and abetting the intended distribution of 100 grams or more of a mixture containing a fentanyl analogue.

According to court documents, on January 2, 2024, law enforcement used a confidential informant to arrange a controlled purchase of fentanyl from Earnest Bryson, who agreed to sell a kilogram of fentanyl to the informant. On the following day, Bryson and co-defendants Julius Cole and Gerald Young traveled from Dayton, Ohio, to Fort Wright, Kentucky, to deliver the drugs to the informant. Soon after they arrived, law enforcement parked behind their vehicle and forcibly removed them from the vehicle. A search of the vehicle revealed that an attempt was made to destroy the drugs by mixing them with Coca-Cola. Some of the mixture was tested, however, and found to contain fentanyl as well as fluorofentanyl, a fentanyl analogue. Further investigation revealed that Hughes supplied 100 grams or more of drugs intended to be distributed to the informant.

Cole and Young have both pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges and have been sentenced to 132 months and 18 months, respectively.

Under federal law, Hughes must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for 10 years.

Paul McCaffrey, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; John Nokes, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, Louisville Field Division; Jim Scott, Special Agent in Charge, DEA, Louisville Field Division; Director Scott Hardcorn, Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force; and Phillip J. Burnett, Jr., Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by ATF, DEA, Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force and KSP. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Winslow is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

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