New York Woman Faces Up to 20 Years in Federal Prison, $1M Fine Following Conviction for Fentanyl Trafficking

PORTLAND, Maine: A federal jury convicted a New York woman today for possessing fentanyl with intent to distribute following a four-day jury trial in U.S. District Court in Portland. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Darcie N. McElwee

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, on December 26, 2018, Jenny Santana-Vasquez, 36, was stopped by a Maine State Trooper on I-95 northbound near Biddeford for exceeding the speed limit. Santana-Vasquez’s license was suspended as was the vehicle registration. Following an alert from a drug detection dog, Santana-Vasquez admitted to the trooper that she had something hidden on her person. Further investigation revealed approximately 99 grams of fentanyl.

Santana-Vasquez faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $1,000,000 fine. She will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. 

The investigation was conducted by the Maine State Police, and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Maine Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory (HETL) Forensic Chemistry Section.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case as part of the Department of Justice’s Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge, a program designed to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids.

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