Canadian Man Sentenced for Drug Trafficking Crimes

Acting United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Christopher Frater, 30, of Ontario, Canada, was sentenced on September 14, 2023, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for possessing with intent to distribute cocaine.  Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Frater to 120 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system.  After his release from prison, he will begin a 5-year term of supervised release.

On July 13, 2022, Omaha Police Department officers working on I-80 in Sarpy County observed a 2021 Nissan Maxima with Virginia license plates commit several traffic violations. As a result, officers pulled over the vehicle driven by Frater. During the traffic stop, the officer learned that the defendant was driving a rental vehicle, one way from Los Angeles, California, to New York.

Frater made inconsistent statements about the purpose and timing of his travel which raised the officer’s suspicions. As a result, a K-9 sniff of the rental vehicle occurred and the K-9 positively alerted to the scent of narcotics in the vehicle.

In the trunk of the car, officers found three Home Depot boxes containing more than 125 pounds of cocaine that was laboratory confirmed as to both weight and substance. 

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Omaha Field Division, and the Omaha Police Department.