Lorain Man Sentenced to 15 years for Selling and Possessing Fentanyl

AKRON – Gregory Ralston, 33, of Lorain, Ohio, was sentenced on Friday, July 28, 2023, to 15 years in prison by U.S. District Judge John R. Adams, after a jury convicted him of distributing fentanyl and possessing additional fentanyl with the intent to distribute it. Ralston was ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release following imprisonment and pay a $200 special assessment.

According to court documents and court records, Ralston sold fentanyl on May 13, 2020. The next day, detectives from the Lorain and Elyria Police Departments, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents, arrested Ralston outside a restaurant in Lorain, Ohio. Ralston possessed additional fentanyl with the intent to distribute it.

The investigation was conducted by Lorain Police Department and the FBI as part of Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.), a joint law enforcement initiative that seeks to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids and to identify wholesale distribution networks and international and domestic suppliers in Lorain County. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert J. Kolansky and Payum Doroodian.