Abdallah Amer Ali, Fentanyl Distribution, Virginia 2022

HARRISONBURG, Va. – A Harrisonburg man was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison after selling a fatal dose of fentanyl to a 16-year-old in the same city.

Abdallah Amer Ali, 21, pleaded guilty in June 2022 to one count of distributing a measurable quantity of fentanyl. His sentence was handed down by the court today.

The crime took place in October 2019 when Ali used the messaging app SnapChat to arrange the sale of what the teenage victim believed were Percocet pills, also known as ‘percs.’ Although he advised the teenager to not ingest all of them at once, Ali stopped short of letting him know that the pills also contained the lethal opioid, fentanyl.

Unaware that his pills were fentanyl-laced, the teenager ingested the pills, overdosed, and died early the next morning.

United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said, ‘In 2021, more than 100,000 Americans died from drug poisonings, with nearly three-fourths of those deaths involving opioids, and we are on pace to surpass that this year.’ He added, ‘Our country is in the midst of a staggering crisis and we must approach it comprehensively by prosecuting those who poison our communities and providing support and services to those fighting drug addiction disorder.’

DEA Washington Division Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget stated, ‘Many of the people who died from fentanyl had no idea they even took it. The drug cartels are using social media to relentlessly expand their business and deceptively sell fake pills directly to young people.’

Ali’s sentence was announced today by United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh and DEA Washington Division Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Bassford and Jonathan Jones prosecuted the case.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Harrisonburg Police Department, and the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

Mandatory Facts: Defendant Abdallah Amer Ali, 21, of Harrisonburg, Virginia, was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for distributing a measurable quantity of fentanyl. The crime took place in October 2019 in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The sentence was handed down in 2022.