Stockton Man Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl and Methamphetamine Pill Manufacturing and Distribution

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Jamar Deontae Barnes, 42, of Stockton, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute pills laced with fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other drugs, and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine-laced pills, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, between September 2015 and May 2019, Barnes conspired with his twin brother, Jamaine Dontae Barnes, and others, to make and sell thousands of drug-laced pills. Barnes and his co-conspirators made the pills using pill presses, which are machines that compress powders into pills of various shapes and sizes. They made pills that appeared to be legitimate prescription pills but in fact, contained fentanyl, furanyl fentanyl, heroin, and other synthetic opioids. They also made pills that appeared to be traditional Ecstasy pills but in fact contained methamphetamine. On May 16, 2019, law enforcement searched Jamar Barnes' Stockton residence and seized a pill press machine as well as powders and pills containing methamphetamine and furanyl fentanyl.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the California Highway Patrol, the San Joaquin METRO Narcotics Task Force, the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Team (TRIDENT) Task Force, the Stockton Police Department, the Sacramento County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, and the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David W. Spencer and Emily G. Sauvageau are prosecuting the case.

Nine other defendants have pleaded guilty:

• Jamaine Dontae Barnes pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 24, 2025.
• Kavio Daeshaun Lee Wiley pleaded guilty and was sentence to 15 years in prison.
• Vincent Isaiah Patterson pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 28, 2025.
• Johnesha Denae Thompson pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 24, 2025.
• Kadrena Latrice Watts pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 17, 2025.
• Jeremy Jerome Barnett pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 57 months in prison.
• Chevele Bernard Richardson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 79 months in prison.
• Tashawn Terrell Dickerson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 46 months in prison.
• Lamont Montez Thibodeaux pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 24, 2025.

Jamar Barnes is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd on March 3, 2025. Barnes faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. For more information about Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, please visit Justice.gov/OCDETF.