South Florida Man Gets Over 10 Years in Federal Prison for Trafficking Fentanyl Disguised as Oxycodone Pills

Miami, Florida – A U.S. District Court Judge in South Florida has sentenced a 26-year-old Fort Pierce man to 121 months in federal prison for trafficking nearly 400 grams of fentanyl.

On November 16, 2020, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office Deputies observed Dakaree Deval Brown conducting a drug deal.  Brown entered the back passenger seat of a parked vehicle while carrying a blue backpack.  When one of the officers activated his vehicle’s emergency lights, Brown ran from the car he was in, taking the backpack with him.  Deputies caught Brown after a short foot chase.  They searched his backpack and found over 700 pills that, based on the pills’ markings, appeared to be Oxycodone.  Later testing revealed, however, that the pills were actually pressed tablets of fentanyl, made to look like Oxycodone.  Inside the backpack, the officers also discovered multiple baggies containing white powder, a digital scale, a loaded gun magazine, and over $7,000 cash.

Brown pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance on September 24, 2021.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Deanne L. Reuter, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration; and Ken J. Mascara, Sheriff, Saint Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore.

DEA Miami and St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Luisa Honora Berti prosecuted it.  Assistant U.S. Attorney William T. Zloch is handling asset forfeiture.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-14013.

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