Re: Feds claim accused black Evansville fentanyl trafficker stashed drugs in toy car

[Alvin Bragg]

On 09 Nov 2021, Bob Duncan <bob7d...@gmail.com> posted some
news:smer8o$c6b$6...@news.dns-netz.com:

> David Hartung wrote
>
>> No trial just shoot him in the morning.

EVANSVILLE — Federal prosecutors have charged an Evansville man with
distributing thousands of counterfeit prescription pills in Vanderburgh
County, some of which allegedly ended up in the hands of a teenager now
charged with causing a fatal overdose.

If convicted, the man could face up to life in prison.

In a criminal complaint filed Monday, federal investigators accused 28-
year-old Deriontai Mathis of possessing upwards of 10,000 fentanyl pills,
tens of thousands of dollars in cash and more than a dozen illegal weapons
at two Evansville residences.

The federal prosecutors charged Mathis with distribution of fentanyl and
possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. A preliminary hearing in his
case is scheduled for Friday, according to court records.

The criminal complaint filed Monday by Chris Goergen, a U.S. Drug
Enforcement Agency task force officer, disclosed new information about the
case, including evidence allegedly connecting Mathis to the 18-year-old
charged with causing multiple fentanyl overdoses.

Opioid crisis:Evansville teen accused of causing multiple fentanyl
overdoses

According to Goergen, members of the Evansville-Vanderbugh County Drug
task Force and the DEA first became aware of Mathis in 2020, two years
prior to his arrest.

"Mathis was a poly-drug distributor in the Southern District of Indiana
selling marijuana, methamphetamine, counterfeit pills containing fentanyl
and ecstasy pills," Goergen wrote in the criminal complaint.

In October 2022, prosecutors charged 18-year-old Jeremial Leach in
connection with three overdoses, including the fatal overdose of 19-year-
old Elisabeth Duncan in June.

During the course of that investigation, detectives allegedly uncovered
evidence connecting Leach to Mathis.

"During the search warrant of Leach's cellular telephone, it was
discovered that Leach was buying fentanyl pills from Mathis for $10 per
pill," Goergen wrote in the complaint.

Evansville crimeAs fentanyl deaths soar, providers push new treatments,
harm reduction

Vanderburgh County prosecutors charged Leach with dealing in a controlled
substance resulting in death, a Level 1 felony, and dealing cocaine or a
narcotic drug, a Level 5 felony.

Leach was released from jail in October after posting at $750,000 bond and
placed in the Drug Abuse Prevention Service.

According to an affidavit filed in Leach's case, multiple overdose victims
believed Leach's fentanyl pills to be genuine prescription medications.

Surveillance
One month after Leach's arrest, detectives surveilling Mathis conducted a
traffic stop on a vehicle allegedly spotted leaving his residence,
according to the federal complaint in his case.

The stop, which occurred on Nov. 10, reportedly lead to the seizure of
several blue pills stamped with "M-30," the code used by the company
Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals to denote genuine oxycodone tablets.

Opioid crisis:Evansville woman accepts plea deal after daughter's fentanyl
death

That small seizure, according to Goergen, reportedly led to evidence
indicating Mathis would purchase up to 10,000 counterfeit pills containing
fentanyl at a time and store the pills at a Boeke Road residence already
under surveillance.

A short time later, members of the the joint city-county drug task force
and the DEA detained Mathis after a traffic stop, the complaint states.

During a search of his black Jeep Cherokee, investigators allegedly
confiscated $2,495 in cash, as well as five cellphones.

Searches allegedly net thousands of pills
That same day, detectives said they searched Mathis' residences off Boeke
Road and Powell Avenue.

A search of the Powell Avenue residence, according to Goergen, turned up
thousands of counterfeit prescription opioids containing fentanyl.

"During a search under the carport in a child's toy car, law enforcement
recovered a plastic bag that contained nine plastic bags, each containing
a large amount of small blue pills marked M-30," Goergen wrote in the
complaint.

Evansville crime:Federal prosecutors say Evansville men were making
counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl

Evansville Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Anna Gray later said the
bags contained approximately 10,000 pills.

In the Powell Avenue home's northwest bedroom, Goergen said detectives
recovered body armor and a camouflaged backpack containing $56,800 in
cash.

In the bedroom's closet, detectives said they found nine handguns —
weapons Mathis is barred from possessing due to a previous felony
conviction. A search of the Boeke Avenue residence, according to the
complaint, turned up four firearms.

Three others arrested, charged
While executing the search warrants, investigators arrested three people
in addition to Mathis: Jasmyn Ramsey, 28, Desmonz Fullilove, 29, and
Antonique Crawford, 28.

On Tuesday, Vanderburgh County prosecutors charged Ramsey with dealing in
a narcotic drug, a Level 2 felony, two felony counts of neglect of a
dependent, and misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

Ramsey, who Goergen identified as Mathis' girlfriend, pleaded not guilty
Wednesday, according to court records.

Police accused Fullilove of possessing approximately 13 grams of
methamphetamine, 8 grams of cocaine and a large number of blue pills
marked M-30."

Opioid crisis:They were small-town Indiana friends. Fentanyl killed them
both.

County prosecutors charged Fullilove with dealing in a narcotic drug and
dealing in methamphetamine, both Level 2 felonies.

Fullilove entered a preliminary plea of not guilty Wednesday, according to
court records, and Vanderburgh County Circuit Court Judge Carl Heldt set
Fullilove's bond at $250,000.

County prosecutors also charged Crawford with Level 2 dealing in a
narcotic drug and dealing in methamphetamine.

Crawford was released from the Vanderburgh County jail Wednesday after
posting a $5,000 bond.

The federal case
Mathis was initially held at the Vanderburgh County jail following his
Nov. 10 arrest, but the court later transferred him to the Henderson
County jail in Kentucky to await federal charges.

According to Goergen, federal arrestees from Vanderburgh County are
typically detained at the Henderson County Confinement Center.

After the transfer, Goergen said Mathis agreed to speak with federal
investigators.

"During the interview, Mathis stated that the blue fentanyl pills found
... were his and that he had received them from a source of supply outside
the Evansville area," Goergen wrote in the complaint.

Opioid crisis:Fentanyl seized in Southern Indiana bust could kill 350,000
people, officials say

Mathis reportedly went on to say the fentanyl pills did not belong to his
girlfriend, Ramsey, and that she did not know about them.

According to Goergen, Mathis told investigators he sold the M-30 pills for
between $4 and $20. With regard to the firearms, Mathis stated they were
"for his girlfriends' protection," the complaint states.

Federal investigators said Mathis' gave his consent to search a rose-
colored iPhone X which, according to the complaint, Mathis identified as
"his primary phone to conduct drug transactions."

On the device, investigators said they observed communications between
Mathis and others which are "consistent with narcotics trafficking."

Evansville crime:Police, prosecutors going after a new target in fentanyl-
related deaths

According to federal court records, Mathis made his initial appearance
before U.S. Magistrate Judge Van T. Willis Tuesday, where he waived his
right to have the complaint read in court.

A preliminary hearing to discuss the case and Mathis' pre-trial detention
is scheduled for Nov. 18 at 2 p.m.

A possession with intent to distribute fentanyl charge carries a minimum
sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison, federal
documents state.

Houston Harwood can be contacted at walter....@courierpress.com with
story ideas and questions. Twitter: @houston_whh.

He's black. Just kill his ass.

<https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/local/2022/11/17/feds-say-evansville-
fentanyl-trafficker-hid-drugs-in-toy-car/69654406007/>