Hugo Pinzon, Fentanyl Trafficking, Illinois 2026

CHICAGO — Hugo Pinzon, a 36-year-old man, has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for fentanyl trafficking and illegally possessing 17 firearms in his Chicago residence.

Law enforcement conducted a court-authorized search of Pinzon’s residence in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago in April 2024 and discovered distribution quantities of fentanyl and cocaine, as well as 17 firearms. As a previously convicted felon, Pinzon was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm.

The search also turned up a money-counting machine, a digital scale for weighing narcotics, and $95,456 in cash, which constituted proceeds from narcotics transactions. Pinzon had sold drugs on three occasions earlier in 2024 to an individual who, unbeknownst to Pinzon, was cooperating with law enforcement.

Pinzon pleaded guilty last year to federal drug and firearm charges. On April 2, 2026, U.S. District Judge John F. Kness sentenced Pinzon to nine years in federal prison.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent-in-Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Chicago. Substantial assistance was provided by the Carpentersville, Ill. Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey S. Snell argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum, ‘Distribution of narcotics, particularly cocaine and fentanyl, is a very serious offense. These addictive drugs destroy lives and shatter families. In addition to the narcotics defendant kept in his house, he also kept an array of 17 firearms, knowing that he had previously been convicted of a felony and was not permitted to possess a firearm.’

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