Lincoln Man Sentenced for Distribution of Fentanyl
United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Arnaldo L. Rodriguez Santini, age 37, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was sentenced on January 10, 2025, in federal court in Lincoln for distribution of fentanyl. U.S. District Judge Susan M. Bazis sentenced Rodriguez Santini to 216 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Rodriguez Santini’s release from prison, he will begin a 4-year term of supervised release.
On the morning of June 21, 2022, a Lincoln man was found dead at a Lincoln halfway house. A spoon containing a blue/white substance, a broken pill, and a syringe were found in the man’s room. Two additional blue pills were found in his wallet. Testing at the Nebraska State Patrol laboratory showed the pills found in the victim’s wallet and the substance on the spoon all contained fentanyl. After an autopsy was conducted, it was determined the cause of death was fentanyl toxicity.
Text messages in the victim’s phone led investigators to suspect Rodriguez Santini and his wife, Regina Rodriguez, were the sources for this fentanyl. Rodriguez Santini was interviewed by Lincoln Police officers in August of 2022 about the text messages. He admitted to providing five fentanyl pills to the victim on the day prior to the victim’s death.
Regina Rodriguez was sentenced to 240 months in prison on a related charge in September of 2023.
This case was investigated by
Lecia Wright - Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney (402) 661-3700