96 Months for Fentanyl Pill Ring

WASHINGTON – Edward Steven Monge, 23, of Beltsville, Maryland, has been sentenced to 96 months in prison for participating in a fentanyl distribution conspiracy that peddled thousands of deadly pills.

The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes, who also ordered Monge to serve four years of supervised release. Monge pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia on January 30, 2024, to an information charging him with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.

According to the government’s evidence, between February and August 2023 Monge sold more than 4,500 pills containing fentanyl to Jennifer Echeverria Flores, 26, of Silver Spring, MD. Flores then sold the pills to a DEA undercover agent on five separate occasions between February 17 and July 19, 2023, in the District and Maryland. The pills were blue, marked ‘M’ on one side, and ’30’ on the other. The total approximate weight of the pills was 479 grams.

The pills were designed to look like authentic oxycodone ‘M30’ pills, but instead contained fentanyl. In addition to the pills Monge distributed with Flores, he distributed thousands more fentanyl pills to other re-distributors and clients during this period. On August 3, 2023, law enforcement arrested Monge in Hyattsville, MD, and found him carrying about 1,102 identical fentanyl pills.

As part of the plea agreement, Monge also admitted that he possessed a firearm in connection with his unlawful distribution of fentanyl. Echeverria Flores pleaded guilty in December to the drug conspiracy charge. Monge’s co-conspirator Mynor Josue Fernandez Alfaro was indicted in March for his role in this conspiracy, and his case is ongoing.

This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation, which identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States. The investigation was also an effort of Montgomery County Police under the Maryland Criminal Intelligence Network (MCIN), which provides grant funding and strategic support to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal organizations through inter-agency collaboration and data sharing.

This matter was investigated by the DEA – Washington Division, with valuable assistance provided by Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Gaelin Bernstein of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney David T. Henek, of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses section.

Edward Steven Monge, 23, of Beltsville, Maryland, will serve 96 months in prison for his role in a fentanyl distribution conspiracy that sold thousands of deadly pills. Monge pleaded guilty in January 2024 to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.

Under the sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes, Monge will also serve four years of supervised release. The investigation found that Monge sold more than 4,500 fentanyl pills to Jennifer Echeverria Flores, who then sold them to a DEA undercover agent.