South Carolina Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Shipping Counterfeit Pills Containing Fentanyl to North Georgia

ROME, Ga. - Onesepherous L. Grissette has been sentenced to federal prison for shipping thousands of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl from South Carolina to North Georgia using the U.S. Mail.

"The danger posed by counterfeit pills and fentanyl is a real and continuing threat to our citizens and has claimed many lives," said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. "Our office and agency partners are continually developing new and innovate investigative strategies for identifying traffickers who peddle these dangerous drugs and to hold them accountable for causing irreparable harm to our communities."

"The US Postal Inspection Service is charged with defending the nation's mail system from illegal use," said Tommy D. Coke, Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division. "We remain steadfast to seek justice to the end and to keep communities safe through continued collaborative investigative efforts with our law enforcement partners."

According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, the charges, and other information presented in court: In July 2022, investigators with the United States Postal Inspection Service seized a shipment of pills mailed from South Carolina that were addressed to an individual who resided in Chickamauga, Georgia. The pills resembled the prescription drug oxycodone, but testing confirmed that the tablets contained fentanyl. The investigation revealed that Grissette shipped more than 4,500 pills to this individual for nearly two years and that the individual paid Grissette approximately $85,000.

Onesepherous L. Grissette, 43, of Conway, South Carolina, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William M. Ray, II to five years, 10 months in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Grissette was convicted of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance on June 24, 2024, after he pleaded guilty.

This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service with valuable assistance provided by the Lookout Mountain Drug Task Force and the Horry County, South Carolina Sheriff's Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Calvin A. Leipold, III prosecuted the case.

The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia recommends that parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following websites: www.justthinktwice.gov; www.operationprevention.com/; and www.dea.gov/onepill.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney's Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.