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A 74-year-old woman delivered the equivalent of 150,000 lethal doses fentanyl in the mail, as part of an “extra hustle” to pay for his own medications.
According to authorities, Patricia Parker of Austin, Texas, sent more than 1,000 parcels suspected of containing illegal drugs. He distributed counterfeit amphetamine pills laced with fentanyl, although he claims he did not know they were laced with synthetic opioids.
The smuggling scheme unraveled in 2022, when he tried to sell counterfeit amphetamines to an undercover Food and Drug Administration agent.
After a ten-month investigation, agents raided Parker’s home and found that he had 18,000 pills. Some illegal pills, which FDA agents said included Adderall, oxycodone and diazepam, were found in a decorative tin.
Parker pleaded guilty in May this year to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and distribution of more than 310 grams of fentanyl, equivalent to 150,000 lethal doses of the drug.
She was sentenced on November 25 to two years’ probation with a special condition of nine months’ home confinement.
His lawyer said in a sentencing memorandum boston.comThat Parker had been buying her drugs from a man named ‘John’ for years.
But when her real estate job faltered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she was unable to pay for her medication. Parker then agreed to distribute John’s drugs in exchange for her own drugs, a move her lawyer called a “side hustle”.
This meant that Parker became a “remailer”, breaking large shipments of drugs into smaller packages for distribution.
The 74-year-old woman has since claimed she had no idea she had delivered fentanyl In its package.
“I would never knowingly participate in anything involving such a dangerous drug,” she wrote in a letter to a judge seen by Boston.com. “I should have investigated what it was, so it was my own doing. I look back on it, but that fact haunts me to this day.”
However, officials argued in a sentencing memorandum fox newsThat an “educated, adult woman” must recognize the risks involved in distributing counterfeit drugs.
A statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Rhode Island said the case was jointly investigated by the Office of Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, as well as the FDA.
“According to information presented in court, Parker had been engaged in drug trafficking for a long time,” the statement said.
“An investigation in May 2022 revealed his drug trafficking activity, during which he distributed counterfeit amphetamine pills containing fentanyl to an undercover Food and Drug Administration special agent.
“Approximately ten months after the undercover operation, agents executed a search warrant at his residence, where they discovered that the defendant was in possession of over 18,000 pills, including Schedule II and IV controlled substances, all unapproved for use by the United States Food and Drug Administration, and counterfeit amphetamine pills that contained fentanyl.”