PHOENIX, ARIZONA MAN SENTENCED TO 24 YEARS FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA

RALEIGH, N.C. – A Phoenix, Arizona man was sentenced yesterday to 293 months in prison for trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine. On July 27, 2022, Eric O’Neal, 54, pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute four (400) grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl and fifty (50) grams or more of methamphetamine and possession with the intent to distribute fifty (50) grams or more of methamphetamine and forty (40) grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, aiding and abetting.

“This sentence should send a strong message to kilogram-level narcotics traffickers pushing deadly fentanyl and meth into Eastern North Carolina,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley. “No matter where you are, we will find you. We will prosecute you. And you will do time in federal prison.”

According to court documents and other information presented in court O’Neal distributed a total of thirty (30) kilograms of fentanyl and methamphetamine in the Eastern District of North Carolina from July 2020 through January 28, 2022.  O’Neal would utilize the mail system to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine to customers in the Raleigh, North Carolina area.  O’Neal was previously prosecuted federally for Distribution and Manufacture of Controlled Substances in Salt Lake City, Utah and after serving a ten-year sentence for this conviction, got out of federal prison and continued distributing and selling narcotics until his arrest in this case in New Jersey on January 28, 2022 of this year. 

Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle. The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly L. Sandling  prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:22-cr-00045-BO-RJ.

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