Armed Fentanyl Dealer Sentenced To Seven Years In Federal Prison

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. has sentenced Laquan De’Shay Jones (23, Apopka) to seven years in federal prison for possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute it and for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The court also ordered Jones to forfeit the firearm and ammunition that he was carrying as part of the offense. 

Jones had pleaded guilty on August 18, 2021.

According to court documents, deputies from the Orange County Sherriff’s Office arrested Jones on an active felony warrant for a violation of probation.  During the arrest, agents recovered a loaded Glock pistol from Jones’s vehicle. In the trunk of the vehicle deputies located a duffle bag inside of which were multiple small plastic bags of white powdered fentanyl, cutting agents (chemicals), containers, a scale, and other drug paraphernalia, such as a blender and playing cards bent in half. The total amount of fentanyl was determined to be almost 15 grams. Jones admitted to being a fentanyl dealer. 

Jones was previously convicted of multiple felony offenses, including accessory after the fact to a first-degree felony, resisting an officer, burglary, attempted burglary, and trespassing. 

This case was investigated by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Gardella.

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.