Johnston man sentenced 10 years for fentanyl trafficking operation

JOHNSTON, R.I. (WLNE) — A man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday for drug trafficking.

The United States Attorney’s Office for Rhode Island said 33-year-old Jonathan King of Johnston was convicted of trafficking thousands of fentanyl pills.

Officials said King was the leader of a fentanyl trafficking conspiracy that “distributed and possessed enough fentanyl to create more than two million potentially lethal doses” of the drugs.

King admitted that he arranged for the sale and delivery of thousands of fentanyl-laced pills, some delivered by family members, according to the attorney’s office.

Officials said $6,750 in cash was seized from King at the time of his arrest on July 20, 2021.

He was convicted on June 7, 2022, of conspiracy to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl and distribution of 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

King was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by five years of federal supervised release and was additionally ordered to forfeit proceeds derived from his drug trafficking activities.