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Press Release

Driver In High-Speed Chase Sentenced To 15 Years In Federal Prison For Transporting Two Kilograms Of Fentanyl Pills And A Loaded Firearm

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger has sentenced Jonathan Nicola (23, Sanford) to 15 years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute two kilograms of fentanyl and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. Nicola entered a guilty plea on April 30, 2024. 

According to court documents, a DEA investigation in the St. Cloud area focused on a package delivered to an address in St. Cloud. On January 11, 2024, at around 2:10 p.m., law enforcement observed Nicola get out of a vehicle and retrieve that package. When they attempted to conduct a traffic stop, Nicola accelerated and entered the Florida Turnpike traveling north. An ensuing pursuit, lasting over approximately 14 miles, involved multiple car accidents, driving on the shoulder and into oncoming traffic, running red lights, and endangering traffic. At one point, pursuing officers estimated that the vehicle was traveling more than 100 mph in a 45-mph zone. Nicola crashed and disabled the vehicle at the corner of Washington Woods Lane and Landstar Boulevard in Orlando. A search of the vehicle revealed a digital scale and numerous plastic bags in the driver’s door, and a 9 mm Springfield Hellcat handgun loaded with 11 rounds of ammunition. Officers also found a parcel addressed to the address in St. Cloud where they had conducted surveillance earlier that day. The box was sealed with tape, glue, and insulating foam. It contained a silver metal box containing a vacuum sealed bag of blue pills – sometimes known as fenta-pills – that weighed approximately 4.4 pounds. DEA laboratory tests later revealed that the package with pills contained 2 kilograms of a substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl. 

Court Exhibit
Court Exhibit
Court Exhibit

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the St. Cloud Police Department and the Florida Highway Patrol.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dana E. Hill. 

This case is part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence for occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

Updated November 18, 2024

Topics
Project Safe Neighborhoods
Drug Trafficking
Opioids
Firearms Offenses