24-Year-Old Louisiana Man Now Faces Up to Life in Prison and $10 Million Fine in Connection with Possession and Distribution Charges Involving 11 Pounds of Fentanyl

New Orleans, Louisiana – A 24-year-old man from Louisiana is now facing the possibility of life imprisonment and a fine of up to $10 million in connection with charges of possession and distribution of 11 pounds of fentanyl.

U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that Fermin Rodriguez-Ortega, age 24, a resident of Dallas, Texas, pled guilty, before U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier to a two-count indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A), and 846, and possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(A).

According to court filings, Rodriguez-Ortega traveled from Dallas, Texas to a Super 8 motel in Covington, Louisiana on September 27, 2022, carrying about five (11 lbs) kilograms of fentanyl. Homeland Security Investigations agents and St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies met Rodriguez-Ortega at the motel based on information received via investigation. After searching his bags, they recovered five kilograms of fentanyl.

Rodriguez-Ortega faces a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison, up to life in prison, a fine of up to $10,000,000, at least five years of supervised release following any period of incarceration, and a $100 mandatory special assessment charge for each count to which he pled guilty.

The United States Homeland Security Investigations and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated this matter. Assistant United States Attorney J. Benjamin Myers of the Narcotics Unit is in charge of the prosecution.