Fentanyl Queen

⏱ 2 min read

Chrystal D. Mueller, a 41-year-old woman from Reedsburg, Wisconsin, was part of a fentanyl trafficking organization that distributed pills from California to Wisconsin between January 14, 2022, and April 8, 2022. Mueller and her co-conspirators would receive the fentanyl pills through the mail and then distribute them locally, with Mueller getting a discount on the drugs for her role in the operation. The group’s activities were uncovered by the United States Postal Inspection Service, which intercepted parcels containing fentanyl pills in March and April 2022.

Mueller pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl on September 4, 2025. She was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. The sentence was handed down by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson, who rejected Mueller’s request for a probationary sentence due to her prolonged involvement in the conspiracy and her recruitment of her then-significant other into the operation.

The investigation also led to the conviction of other members of the trafficking organization, including Kenneth O. Phillips, who was sentenced to 6 years in prison, and Brandon Stevens, a former mail carrier who was sentenced to a year and a day in prison. Stevens had used his position to pick up parcels containing fentanyl pills and deliver them to his partner, Mueller.

The fentanyl trafficking organization had received a total of 19 parcels from California between January and April 2022, containing an unknown quantity of fentanyl pills. Another individual, Ames Basham, has also pleaded guilty and is set to be sentenced on April 7, 2026.