2 brothers get prison in fake drug transport
A Connecticut man was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison this week for trafficking counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl, according to federal authorities.
Michael Lee, 26, of Windsor, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven to a total of 70 months in prison, to be followed by four years of supervised release, according to federal authorities.
Authorities, citing, court documents and statements made in court, said a DEA New Haven Tactical Diversion Squad investigation, which used court-authorized wiretaps, controlled purchases of narcotics and seizure of drugs were shipped through the U.S. Mail, revealed that “Michael Lee, his brother Alexander Lee, and others, received thousands of counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl, and other controlled substances, from a source of supply on the west coast of the U.S.”
The men then distributed the drugs to “various street-level distributors and numerous drug customers in Connecticut.”
Authorities said Michael and Alexander Lee went to California in 2022 and sent a package to Alexander Lee’s Windsor home, but it was intercepted and searched, and found to contain about 18,000 fentanyl pills “disguised as oxycodone.”
Also in 2022, the brothers went back to California and “shipped a package to an associate in Bloomfield” that contained 1,800 tablets of Alprazolam, that “appeared to be manufactured in Mexico,” according to federal authorities.
Investigators also seized about 25 pounds of marijuana, seven firearms, and thousands of dollars in cash, federal authorities said.
When the Lee brothers were arrested in June 2022, Michael Lee’s home was found to contain “more than 1,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills, a small quantity of prescription Xanax tablets, and a loaded .45 caliber pistol with an extended magazine.”
Michael Lee pleaded guilty in 2023 to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl. He is free on a $100,000 bond, and scheduled to report to prison on April 24. Alexander Lee pleaded guilty to the same charge and was sentenced to five years in prison, federal authorities said.