Lexington Man Sentenced to 82 Months for Trafficking Dangerous Fentanyl Analogue

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Lavonte Harmon, 33, of Lexington, was sentenced Thursday to 80 months in federal prison, by United States District Judge Danny C. Reeves, for possession with intent to distribute acetylfentanyl, a fentanyl analogue.  

In December 2018, Lexington Police officer executed a search warrant on Harmon’s vehicle and residence, seizing 13 grams of acetylfentanyl, 17 grams of cocaine, $4,474 cash, and drug trafficking paraphernalia. In his plea agreement, Harmon admitted that he intended to distribute the drugs and agreed to forfeit the $4,474.            

Under federal law, Harmon must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence and will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for five years following his release. Harmon will also have to pay a $1,500 fine, imposed by the court.

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Daniel D. Dodds, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA; and Lawrence Weathers, Chief of the Lexington Police Department, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Lexington Police Department. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Kiebler.

This case was prosecuted as part of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force’s (OCDETF) Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (SOS), a Department of Justice initiative designed to target trafficking of dangerous synthetic opioids.

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