:crab-party:

  • happybadger [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I'm so curious about additional compensation. If the cartels didn't have something over him, you couldn't pay me half the street value to risk smuggling in a life sentence worth of fentanyl. Trying to rip them off when he has a big family on some kind of rural property would be too stupid for a Nazi. There's something really juicy to the story which isn't even in the court papers:

    https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.azd.1264319/gov.uscourts.azd.1264319.2.0.pdf

    The first part of his indictment says he also conspired to distribute 400g in Arizona. That's a big gulf in scale though. 100mcg is what's prescribed in tablet form.

    • robot_dog_with_gun [they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      maybe he gets health insurance through the cartel and that doesn't count as payment for tax prosecution purposes

    • AcidSmiley [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      The first part of his indictment says he also conspired to distribute 400g in Arizona.

      It says "400g or more", which most likely refers to the total 15kg. 400g could just be the cutoff at which "a fuckhuge amount that can get you life in prison" starts when it comes to fentanyl. They always refer to "400g or more" in these exact words in the first part where they describe what constitutes the offense and only to the 15kg in the second part where they refer to the "basis of the offense", and the date for both is the same day. So i'd say they're talking about the same crime in both parts of the document.

      • happybadger [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        You seem to be right: https://www.fordham.edu/student-life/deans-of-students-and-student-life/student-handbook/university-regulations/drug-free-campus-guidelines/federal-trafficking-penalties-for-schedules-i-ii-iii-iv-and-v-except-marijuana/

        For the substances/schedules and larger amounts:

        Fentanyl (Schedule IV): 400 g or more mixture

        Fentanyl Analogue (Schedule I): 100 g or more mixture

        First Offense: Not less than 10 years, and not more than life. If death or serious injury, not less than 20 years, or more than life. Fine of not more than $10 million if an individual, $50 million if not an individual

        Fentanyl (Schedule I): 40-399 g mixture

        First Offense: Not less than 5 years, and not more than 40 years. If death or serious injury, not less than 20 years or more than life. Fine of not more than $5 million if an individual, $25 million if not an individual.

        So the 400g is a federal sentencing threshold that doubles the penalty.

        • AcidSmiley [she/her]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Yeah, i later saw something ITT about another case involving kg amounts were the "400g or more" thing was also mentioned.

          It's worth noting that with pills or especially patches, it's not that hard to get over the 400g threshold, as the US counts total weight of the drugs, nor weight of the active ingredient. It's easily something that affects small time dealers when you calculate it like that, which ofc has always been the purpose of this policy.