Portland Woman Sentenced to 135 Months in Prison for Distributing Fentanyl Inside Multnomah County Jail

PORTLAND, Ore. – On Monday, August 28, 2017, United States District Court Judge Marco A. Hernandez sentenced Channing Lacey, 30, of Portland, to 135 months in prison for distributing fentanyl inside the Multnomah County Jail. The fentanyl use resulted in the death of one inmate and the non-fatal overdoses of three others. Upon her release from prison, Lacey will be on supervised release for three years.

On March 5, 2015, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent and Portland Police Officers assigned to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Interdiction Taskforce (HIT) arrested Lacey on allegations that she had been tampering with evidence related to a pending federal case involving her boyfriend who had previously been arrested for distributing fentanyl on the dark web. When Lacey was arrested, she was found in possession of 33 packages of fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance, with a net weight of approximately 35 grams. A “typical illegal user” amount of fentanyl is one milligram or less. A single gram of fentanyl can sell for up to $1,000 on the street.

Following her arrest, Lacey was taken to and held in the Multnomah County Jail. Unbeknownst to the jail staff, Lacey had concealed an amount of fentanyl within her body. Deputies later learned that after being brought to the jail, and prior to her initial court appearance on March 6, 2015, Lacey retrieved the fentanyl and distributed it to another inmate. The other inmate in turn distributed the fentanyl to additional inmates. Three inmates overdosed on the fentanyl between March 7 and 9, 2015. All three victims required immediate life-saving medical attention and the administration of Narcan to reverse the overdose and prevent their death. On March 21, 2015, another inmate overdosed on the fentanyl and died as a result.

On March 10, 2015, Lacey was indicted by a federal grand jury for the distribution of a controlled substance resulting in serious bodily injury (Count 1) and possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance (Count 2), in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(C).

On April 15, 2015, a Superseding Indictment was returned by a federal grand jury charging the defendant with distribution of a controlled substance resulting in serious bodily injury to three individuals (Count 1), distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death of another individual (Count 5) and possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance (Count 6), all in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(C).

On March 28, 2017, the defendant pleaded guilty to Count 1 and Count 5 of the Superseding Indictment.

“The illegal distribution of fentanyl and other opioids are carving a deadly path through our country,” said Billy J. Williams, United States Attorney for the District of Oregon. “We continue to work with partners at all levels of government to combat this national crisis and hold these drug dealers accountable. Those who deal in opioids deal in death,” continued U.S. Attorney Williams, “and will face severe consequences for their actions.”

On average, more than 90 Americans die every day from opioid related overdoses.

This case was the result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) joint investigation involving HSI, the Grand Forks Narcotics Task Force and Police Department, Portland Police Bureau Drugs and Vice Division, Portland HIDTA Interdiction Task Force, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, and the United States Attorney’s Offices in Oregon and North Dakota. The case was prosecuted by Scott Kerin, Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Oregon.