Feds: Fentanyl dealer had targeted Macomb County

Dewayne Butler had plans to use the U.S. mail to fly in packages of fentanyl worth thousands of dollars from Las Vegas to be unloaded onto the streets of metropolitan Detroit, including Macomb County.

But Butler’s hopes to build a network for the deadly, highly addictive drug were dismantled by the United States Postal Service and Drug Enforcement Agency. He will be spending the next decadeplus behind bars, according to federal prosecutors.

“Mr. Butler’s criminal conduct is an all-too-familiar example of someone who is willing, due to his own greed, to contribute to the destruction of communities, families and individuals dealing with the current effects or aftermath of drug addiction,” U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said in a statement.

Butler, 32, of Detroit, was sentenced Judge Robert H. Cleland Thursday to 14 years in federal prison on charges of possession of fentanyl with the intent to distribute it in the Detroit area. Authorities say he pled guilty to selling 3.03 kilos, worth about $150,000.

During the summer of 2020, United States Postal Inspectors were working to identify parcels containing contraband that had been sent through the mail.

According to court records, from July-August 2020 Butler flew to Las Vegas to ship packages containing over one kilogram of fentanyl each to the Detroit area for sale. The packages were intercepted by postal inspectors, who along with special agents from the DEA, determined that Butler was responsible for shipping the illegal drugs to Detroit.

Records show 22 previous parcels had been shipped to addresses associated with Butler, between November 2019 and August 2020, and corresponded with Butler’s travel from Detroit to Las Vegas.

Authorities said postal inspectors retrieved a parcel that had been sent from Las Vegas a to an address on Sail Drive, in the area of 15 Mile and Ryan roads in Sterling Heights. The package claimed to have been sent by “PrEcision Clothing Inc.” The package was to be delivered to a Stephani Eli. Eli is the name of Butler’s father, investigators said.

Officials determined PrEcision Clothing was a fictitious business. A K9 alerted on the package and a search warrant was authorized for the package, which revealed the contents included one kilo of fentanyl.

Another package was sent to an address on Pickwick Circle in Taylor, which was found to contain 2.03 kilos.

Since 2008, Butler’s criminal record includes eight felonies and 13 misdemeanors, including assault with intent to commit great bodily harm, felony firearm, and theft offenses.

Rodney M. Hopkins, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Detroit Division, said Butler’s conviction “reflects the ongoing work of the United States Postal Inspection Service and our law enforcement partners to disrupt drug trafficking in our communities and our dedication to ensuring justice is swiftly served upon those who seek to undermine the safety and security of the general public.”

Federal agents say they continue to see an increase in presence of fentanyl in white powder heroin markets, which in turn result in higher rates of fentanyl-involved overdose deaths. It is 30 times stronger than heroin, experts say.

Authorities say one kilogram of fentanyl, which sold for about $50,000 in 2020, could potentially produce 250,000 lethal doses. Michigan drug overdose deaths climbed to record levels in 2020 during the pandemic. In 2019, more than 51 percent of all drug overdose deaths were attributed to fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, and other synthetic opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta (CDC).