U.S. Department
of Justice
Press Release
Green Bay Woman Sentenced to 8 years’ Imprisonment for Trafficking Fentanyl disguised as Percocet®
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Wisconsin
Gregory J. Haanstad, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on August 21, 2023, Senior United States District Court Judge William C. Griesbach sentenced Marianna KJ Zimmer (age: 20) to a total sentence of 8 years’ imprisonment and 8 years of supervised release after Zimmer pled guilty to Possession of Fentanyl with Intent to Distribute and Possession of a Firearm as a Convicted Felon, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841, and Title 18, United States Code, Section 922.
According to court filings, in August 2022, while Zimmer was on probation for a prior felony conviction, Wisconsin probation agents arrested Zimmer and learned that from jail she was directing a friend to hide and destroy evidence of Zimmer’s fentanyl trafficking. Probation agents, with assistance from the Brown County Drug Task Force, successfully recovered and seized over 8,400 fake Percocet® pills containing fentanyl, over $38,500 in US currency, and a stolen and loaded .45-caliber pistol. The fentanyl was in the form of blue pills imprinted with “M30” to mimic the legitimate prescription drug Percocet®. Counterfeit “M30” pills are commonly made by Mexican drug cartels and smuggled into the United States.
In sentencing Zimmer, Judge Griesbach stressed that Zimmer’s fentanyl dealing and unlawful firearm possession were serious offenses that presented a danger to the public, warranting significant punishment and a strong deterrent message to others. The judge also stressed that Zimmer’s offense was aggravated because she posted numerous images and videos of herself on Facebook in which she glamorized the life of a drug dealer, posing with large amounts of cash that she made by distributing drugs.
Legitimate Percocet® contains oxycodone and acetaminophen but not fentanyl. Like fentanyl, oxycodone is a Schedule II controlled substance that can be highly addictive and abused, but fentanyl is more dangerous.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), 60% of the counterfeit “Percocet” pills tested in 2022 had a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl, up from 40% in 2021. The following is from a Public Safety Alert posted on the DEA’s website
The DEA Laboratory has found that, of the fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills analyzed in 2022, six out of ten now contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl. This is an increase from DEA’s previous announcement in 2021 that four out of ten fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills were found to contain a potentially lethal dose.
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Last year, the DEA issued a Public Safety Alert on the widespread drug trafficking of fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills in American communities. These pills are largely made by two Mexican drug cartels, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco (CJNG) Cartel, to look identical to real prescription medications, including OxyContin®, Percocet®, and Xanax®, and they are often deadly. In 2021, the DEA seized more than 20.4 million fake prescription pills. Earlier this year, the DEA conducted a nationwide operational surge to target the trafficking of fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills and, in just over three months, seized 10.2 million fake pills in all 50 states . . .
Fentanyl remains the deadliest drug threat facing this country. It is a highly addictive synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Just two milligrams of fentanyl, the small amount that fits on the tip of a pencil, is considered a potentially deadly dose. According to the CDC, 107,622 Americans died of drug poisoning in 2021, with 66 percent of those deaths involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl. The Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco Cartel in Mexico, using chemicals largely sourced from China, are primarily responsible for the vast majority of the fentanyl that is being trafficked in communities across the United States.
This case was investigated by the Brown County Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
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For Additional Information Contact:
Public Information Officer
414-297-1700
Updated August 23, 2023
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