Paris Carter, Fentanyl Trafficking, Pennsylvania 2024

A former resident of Pittsburgh has been sentenced to 34 years of imprisonment for his convictions of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and acetyl fentanyl and conspiracy to commit money laundering, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.

United States District Judge Marilyn J. Horan imposed the sentence on Paris Carter, 35, on unspecified date. Earlier this year, a federal jury in Pittsburgh found Carter guilty of conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and 100 grams or more of acetyl fentanyl and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to information presented to the Court, between January 2017 and February 2018, Carter arranged for the illegal importation of multiple kilograms of fentanyl and acetyl fentanyl directly from China into the Pittsburgh area and then arranged for the distribution of those drugs in the Pittsburgh area. Using the proceeds of his drug trafficking, Carter moved to Beverly Hills, California, where he rented two different homes at costs of $14,500 and $10,000 per month and also leased three vehicles: two Bentleys and a Mercedes Benz.

The evidence at trial also established that Carter laundered his drug trafficking proceeds by using others to initiate financial transactions in their names to pay for the drugs obtained from China. He also provided drug proceeds to approximately seven other individuals who used the funds to purchase cashier checks that Carter then used as downpayments on his vehicles, which he arranged to lease in the name of his aunt and co-defendant, Tamara Carter, whom the jury acquitted at trial.

"Paris Carter’s time driving Bentleys and living a life of luxury in Beverly Hills has come to an end," said U.S. Attorney Olshan. "Today, a federal judge imposed a 34-year prison sentence, an appropriate punishment for a defendant who flooded the Pittsburgh area with kilogram quantities of Chinese-sourced fentanyl."

Carter had previously been convicted in the Western District of Pennsylvania of a serious drug felony—namely, possession with the intent to distribute heroin, for which he was sentenced to 37 months of imprisonment in 2011.

Assistant United States Attorneys Brendan T. Conway and Brendan J. McKenna prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

Carter’s crimes were part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug trafficking organizations in the United States.

The United States Postal Inspection Service, which worked with numerous other federal and state law enforcement agencies, was commended by U.S. Attorney Olshan for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Carter.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/former-pittsburgh-resident-sentenced-34-years-prison-large-scale-fentanyl-trafficking