Brandon D. Hibler, Fentanyl Trafficking, Ohio 2021

A 35-year-old California man has been sentenced to 9 and a half years in prison for his role in a fentanyl trafficking and firearms offense in Ohio.

Brandon D. Hibler, a California man, was sentenced by U.S. Judge Donald C. Nugent to 115 months imprisonment. Hibler pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and felon in possession of a firearm in January of 2021.

The investigation began on April 26, 2020, when an officer with the Peninsula Police Department observed a vehicle parked overnight in a parking lot area of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The vehicle had been reported stolen, and additional police officers with the Richfield Police Department arrived to assist the officer.

During a search of the vehicle, a Park Ranger with the National Park Service located numerous personal drug use and drug trafficking items, including digital scales, hypodermic syringe needles, a Naloxone spray cartridge, multiple fentanyl test strips and a loaded .44-caliber revolver. An additional 9mm-caliber pistol containing Hibler's DNA was later discovered in the area near where the vehicle was parked.

Hibler was found with a plastic bag containing a substance later determined to consist of a fentanyl mixture. He told law enforcement officers that he believed he had an existing warrant from the state of California and that he sells heroin to make money. Hibler is prohibited from possessing a firearm due to previous convictions for assault and child abuse in the Superior Court of California.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Park Service, Summit County Sheriff's Office, Peninsula Police Department and Richfield Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Damoun Delaviz prosecuted the case.

Hibler's sentence of 115 months imprisonment was handed down by U.S. Judge Donald C. Nugent on May 20, 2021.

Defendant: Brandon D. Hibler

Criminal Charges: Possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and felon in possession of a firearm

City and State: Ohio

Date: April 26, 2020 (arrest) and May 20, 2021 (sentencing)

Sentence: 115 months imprisonment (9 and a half years)

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndoh/pr/california-man-sentenced-nine-and-half-years-trafficking-fentanyl-and-firearms-offenses