A man from Gambrills, Maryland was sentenced to 57 months prison after he was caught selling fentanyl pills he purchased from the dark web.
The man was found guilty of selling the fentanyl pills that were in an amount enough to kill 400,000 people.
The drugs purchased from the dark web were then sold to the defendant's customers in Maryland.
10,000 Fentanyl Pills Purchased
The 25-year-old Robert Luke Simpson was the man behind the illicit purchase of 10,000 fentanyl pills from the dark web.
According to the prosecutors, Simpson paid around $10,000 worth of Bitcoin for the drugs.
In quantity of 400 grams and a street value of roughly $63,000, Simpson sold drugs enough to kill around 400,000 people.
The fentanyl pills were sold for $5 to $10 to Simpson's Maryland customers.
Unable to say the exact amount of drugs he traded, Simpson admitted to selling at least 400 grams of fentanyl.
The most he has potentially sold is 1.2 kilograms of fentanyl.
Fentanyl, as a drug more powerful than heroin, is considered an extremely dangerous synthetic opioid.
In a news release, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland noted that as little as only two fentanyl milligrams can be lethal for the user.
Investigation & Sentencing
In October 2017, according to Simpson's plea agreement, the investigators from the Anne Arundel County Heroin Task Force searched his residence and found 369 grams of fentanyl on a desk and in a hidden shelf's compartment.
This amount of fentanyl makes just over 6,200 pills.
In his home, the detectives also found computers, cell phones, cash, equipment for mining Bitcoin and iPads.
The officers seized the computer equipment Simpson possessed as well as the $8,578 in cash.
For the purchasing, the possession and the distribution of fentanyl, Simpson was sentenced to 57 months in prison. His conviction also includes a total of three years of supervised release.
