A federal jury convicted a Cleveland man for attempting to possess and distribute over 600 grams of blue fentanyl pills marked as oxycodone.

Rayshawn D. Ligon, 39, was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, two counts of attempt to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, and escape, following a one-week trial.  The jury found that Ligon intended to distribute blue pills marked to look like 30 milligram oxycodone hydrochloride pills, but were in fact pills laced with fentanyl.  Ligon attempted to receive packages containing the blue fentanyl-laced pills through the U.S. mail.  While Ligon was attempting to receive and distribute the blue fentanyl-laced pills, he was residing in a halfway house as he served the remainder of a 100-month federal sentence for trafficking heroin, cocaine, and cocaine base.  When agents and investigators attempted to apprehend Ligon, he fled and was later apprehended in a neighboring state.

Ligon will be sentenced early next year.  He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison. 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick Burke and Danielle Angeli following an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.