NEW BERN – A Wayne County man was sentenced Thursday to 155 months in prison and five years of supervised release for armed trafficking of counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl after one victim died of an overdose in July 2022. The judge also ordered that the defendant’s supervised release include at least 50 hours of community service focused on educating youth about the dangers of fentanyl.
On April 11, 2024, Dylan Alexander Jones, age 24, pled guilty to one count of distribution of fentanyl and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
“We are bringing swift justice against anyone trafficking counterfeit pills laced with deadly fentanyl, especially when their poison claims one our neighbor’s lives,” said U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley, Jr. “North Carolina’s Sheriffs are prioritizing overdose death investigations like never before and have a direct line to my office to prosecute them. Our team has trained law enforcement across the district on building airtight cases to secure firm sentences in federal court. Our Sheriffs are going the distance to get justice for victims and keep North Carolina safe.”
“The sentencing of Dylan Jones is a pivotal step in our ongoing fight against the devastating impact of drug overdose deaths. We stand firm in our commitment to justice for the victims and their families. I want to commend our exceptional team for their relentless dedication and professionalism in building this challenging case. Together, we are making strides toward a safer community,” said Duplin County Sheriff Stratton Stokes.
According to court documents and other information presented in court, on July 22, 2022, deputies with the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) responded to a 911 call regarding an unresponsive male at a residence in Teachey. Prior to the arrival of the deputy, a Teachey firefighter on scene confirmed that the victim was deceased. A post-mortem toxicology report confirmed the presence of fentanyl in the victim’s system and the cause of death was determined to be fentanyl toxicity.
Law enforcement recovered the victim’s cell phone and an analysis of the data showed that the victim had received pills from an individual using a Snapchat account associated with Jones. GPS data from the victim’s phone and Jones’ phone show that they met at a rest area in Warsaw just hours before his death. In addition, law enforcement made three controlled purchases from Jones between September 2022 and November 2022. All of the pills purchased from Jones contained fentanyl. At the third and final buy, law enforcement arrested Jones. Jones was armed with a handgun at the time of his arrest, and a search of his vehicle resulted in the seizure of a 9mm pistol loaded with 16 rounds of ammunition, fentanyl and over $1,600 in cash.
Michael F. Easley, Jr. U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan. The DCSO, the Carolina Beach Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tyler Lemons prosecuted the case.
What a f**king joke of a sentence.
You’re so right! Should be a life for a life. He will walk the streets again and be dealing before he leaves the prison grounds. The victim’s family will never see their loved one again.
I agree. Kill someone and get off with about 3 years after spending 1/3 sentence and good behavior. You want to know what wrong with the crime in America, there it is right in front of you.
So let me make sure I have this right, YOU go out and by illegal drugs and take them, end up loosing your life which is what we tell folks will drugs will get you or in jail, and now folks want the person that sold them to do life? I honestly feel dealers should get charged and convicted for dealing and junkies will get charged with possession or however the cards play out for them.
Yes, because instead of the illegal drug they were trying to purchase, they were given poison. It is murder. Just because a person is struggling with addiction, they should not die. A lot are young and make stupid mistakes as we all did. Apparently this has not touched your family but it will if the cartels are not shut down.
All drugs are poison
Well, you did it. You’re dead. Your body is lifeless and now we wait for someone to find you. Who knows how long it will take, but your friends and family are either sleeping or coming home from work when they get the call saying that you are dead.
The police have been called and now the coroner. They place your body in that bag you’ve seen a hundred times on TV and haul you to the morgue. They make the first call to your family to tell them you’re gone and someone needs to identify your body.
Your mom and I are at the morgue sitting in the hall. It’s cold in here and I can’t control the tears. The medical examiner approaches and escorts us to the area where we identify you. I can’t swallow. I can barely breathe. I grab your hand; it’s cold. I run my fingers through your hair, it was always so soft. I can feel the staples from when they performed your autopsy. The tears fall from my face on to your hand and it brings the only sign of life to your corpse. Your mom is sobbing and we hold on to each other as we leave the room. This is not the way we wanted to say goodbye to you. If only I had one more chance to talk to you. One more hug. One more kiss. One more anything.
We’ve tried so many times to help and have spent a lot of time getting you in the right rehab center. I don’t understand. Why do you go back to the drugs? Why have you lied when all we’ve wanted to do was help you? How have we failed you? We don’t understand.
I think we have contacted everyone we know about your death. I have to call off work so I can meet with the funeral director and close all of your accounts around the city. We look at casket options and then discuss cremation. It’s hard to decide since we hardly talked about this. Why would we? You were so young.
Oh, my God, do I bury you in your favorite hoodie? I can’t bear the thought of cremation, but it’s probably the right thing to do. You did say you preferred that. We can’t decide but have no choice. Where do we bury you? Who keeps your ashes? It’s hard to fight back the tears and uncontrollable sobbing as the funeral director hands me a tissue.
It’s the day of your funeral service and people are starting to arrive. There are lots of tears and I can see anger on some of the faces. Some people are really mad at you and I don’t blame them. It’s hard to stand here, next to your dead remains, trying to console the line of people here to pay their last respects. I am numb.
Life will never be the same without you. I think about you every single day. We decided that I am keeping your urn and it has been a struggle sorting through all of your clothes trying to figure out what to do with everything. Your brother is flying into town to say his goodbyes. We kept the watch I gave you at Christmas. We knew how much you loved it and will never forget the smile on your face when you opened it.
I guess you’ll never really know how much you were loved. And we’ll never fully understand why your body had to choose drugs over life. We hope you are resting peacefully, free of addiction and we hope you know how hard we all prayed for you.
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For all of my friends on here whom have a loved one struggling with addiction, hug them and tell them that you love them. And then fight like hell to get them back from that dark place that they’re stuck in. They don’t want to be there either.
@StephensSafety on TikTok 🖤
⬆️⬆️ Live this and then talk to me. My son was not a junkie. He was a kid that was controlled by opioid addiction. He was clean for a year and made a stupid choice and died for it. Fentanyl is in many substances now that would never be deadly, even marijuana. We have to stop that problem to give these kids a real chance at recovery. Of course I would rather he never touched a drug. I have never used drugs. But when kids are young they sometimes do stupid things. We are losing a generation to this crisis.
I’m sorry that you lived this pain. That is a very sad story, but with all due respect “My son was not a junkie. He was a kid that was controlled by opioid addiction.” I don’t know what you define as a junkie and I really don’t care to force you to label your son as anything other than what you wish. It’s all poison just the same as being a drunk. The ABC clerk is not the murderer, its the drunk who chooses to drive and kill a family on the road or die of alcohol poisoning. Addicts who die from drug use are not murder victims, they are victims to the drugs they are addicted to. Drug dealer are drug dealers and should be punished for selling drugs. Addicts hopefully know the chances they are taking when they are out here using illegal drugs, not to mention, the crime that a lot of “victims of addiction” commit in our communities, if they were put in jail and not bailed out by these babysitters who put up the house or beg the DA, maybe they could do real time for the crimes THEY commit and perhaps enter a support group while in jail.
“instead of getting the illegal drug they were trying to purchase, they were given poison” This alone tells me a lot. Politicians are using the “cartel” bait and hook to help folks blame someone other than themselves or hold family members accountable for making the choice to by “chosen” drugs or “poison”. My family members are raised and educated knowing that “chosen illegal drugs” ARE poison! Yes we have a few that have chosen to partake in the foolishness of using drugs, but blaming cartels instead of him would only give that person my room to do what junkies do, manipulate and pass the blame foe the choice they made. There is pain in the loss of loved ones, but letting the living loved ones think that if they buy “chosen illegal drugs” and if someone sells them “poison” instead, the dealer will get life, that only gives the living junkies a false sense of feeling the dealer has an obligation to sell them “the illegal drug the think they are buying” instead of “poison”.
I agree with you 100%. Don’t do drugs and live…..do drugs and die..It’s that simple..