Dealer of synthetic opioid gets sentenced to 14 years
A heroin dealer who federal prosecutors said was caught with heroin laced with deadly synthetic opioid carfentanil was sentenced on Monday to 14 years in prison.
Charles Thelusma, 44, is believed to be one of the first suspected dealers of carfentanil charged since the drug first surfaced publicly in Connecticut in 2017.
Among the dangerous synthetic opioids that have gained popularity in the yearslong drug crisis, carfentanil is among the most lethal. Experts say it is 10,000 times stronger than morphine and its only apparent legitimate use is to tranquilize elephants and similarly sized mammals.
The potency of the drug led one former Drug En- forcement Administration head to call it “crazy dangerous” in a public warning.
Thelusma pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 1 kilogram or more of heroin in June.
The charges against Thelusma stem from a joint federal-local investigation into heroin dealing in the Norwalk area. During two controlled purchases from associates of Thelusma in May 2017, the heroin seized tested positive for carfentanil and another synthetic opioid.
Federal prosecutors said Thelusma admitted to being a heroin dealer and purchasing heroin on a monthly basis to supply a business he described as “incredibly good.”
Prosecutors said he purchased the drugs in the Bronx and through Dominican connections.
Thelusma admitted to often using female drug runners as associates because he thought they were less likely to draw police attention, according to a sentencing memo filed by federal prosecutors.
When he was taken into custody in June 2017, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut heralded the first such arrest involving carfentanil, which came months after the state’s chief medical examiner confirmed the drug was to blame for two deadly overdoses.
“This is the first federal prosecution involving carfentanil in Connecticut,” said then-U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly in a statement at the time. “We will continue to devote numerous federal resources to battle the scourge of opioid abuse and distribution.”