Court Sentences Two California Men Caught with Approximately Five Kilograms of Fentanyl to 70 Months Imprisonment

MOBILE, AL - On June 17, 2024, United States District Court Judge, Jeffrey U. Beaverstock sentenced Zeshan Malik Fayyaz and Lener Daneski Jairon-Solis, each to 70 months imprisonment each for Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Fentanyl.

Documents filed with the Court established that on October 8, 2022 a cooperating source, along with a Mobile County Sheriff's Deputy, acting in an undercover capacity, agreed to meet the two defendants in Mobile County to purchase 2 kilograms of fentanyl for $38,000 per kilogram. When the men arrived at the meet location, Jairon-Solis got out of the vehicle and went into the back seat of the vehicle and opened a suitcase and removed two kilograms of fentanyl in exchange for the cash. Law enforcement had arranged the cash to appear to contain $76,000 by putting $100 bills on the outside and mostly $1 bills on the inside, but in fact it was less than $10,000.

During the operation law enforcement observed what appeared to be more drugs in the suitcase. The vehicle was followed from the location and later stopped by law enforcement and officers recovered an additional three kilograms of fentanyl from the vehicle as well as the undercover buy money. The defendants were planning to deliver the additional three kilograms to Pensacola, Florida.

United States Attorney Sean P. Costello commended the investigators for their hard work and dedication in removing 5 kilograms of the deadly drug fentanyl from the community. Costello added that 2 milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose and thus this seizure surely saved many lives given the fentanyl overdose epidemic facing the nation. The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations and the Mobile County Sheriff's Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney George F. May.