Maryland Career Offender Sentenced to 14 Years for Fentanyl Ring and Identity Theft

WASHINGTON – A Maryland man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for leading a fentanyl distribution ring and using stolen identities to commit unemployment insurance fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division; and Special Agent in Charge of the National Capital Region Troy W. Springer, of the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General.

Collin Edwards, 29, of Largo, Maryland, also known as “Chills,” pleaded guilty on November 9, 2023, in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia to a felony charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 or more grams of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl and a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine. Edwards admitted that he, and the members of his conspiracy, were accountable for producing and distributing at least 1.2 kilograms of a mixture containing a detectable amount of fentanyl.

Edwards was also sentenced for aggravated identity theft, in addition to the 14-year in prison term. U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta ordered Edwards to serve five years of supervised release. Edwards previously agreed to forfeit $100,000.

According to court documents, this case began with the June 21, 2021, discovery of a make-shift drug lab in Laurel, Maryland. In August 2021, law enforcement began investigating Edwards and others and learned that the group was running a fentanyl pill pressing operation in and around Washington, D.C., and Maryland, renting apartments with stolen identities, for the purpose of manufacturing and distributing these counterfeit pills.

Law enforcement identified another apartment Edwards and the group were renting in a fictitious identify, this time, a high-end luxury apartment located in the Navy Yard area of Washington, D.C. On Mar. 29, 2022, the FBI executed a search warrant at the apartment with Edwards present and seized baggies of pills and loose powder, together amounting to more than 516 pills and more than 76 grams of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl.

The FBI also located troves of text messages between Edwards and others laying out a scheme to commit wire fraud involving unemployment insurance fraud. Edwards obtained database documents containing personal identifying information (PII) for hundreds of victims. Edwards used this stolen PII to apply online for unemployment insurance benefits in victims’ names. Edwards caused pre-loaded debit cards in victim names to be sent to the homes of his associates and family members. He then retrieved the cards and withdrew funds at ATM locations around the DMV area. Edwards admitted that he and other co-conspirators illegally netted at least $250,000 through the scheme.