Paul Alejandro Felix, a 25-year-old from Glendale, California, has been given a prison sentence of 188 months for his role in a narcotics trafficking operation that distributed a high volume of fentanyl-laced pills across the United States, with the District of Columbia as one of its primary destinations. The sentencing, which occurred yesterday, is one chapter in an expansive case that saw roughly two dozen co-defendants nabbed throughout last year in multiple states including D.C., Virginia, and Maryland, as well as San Diego and Los Angeles in California, as noted in a report by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.
The announcement, made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, and other law enforcement officials, laid out the extent of Felix's involvement in the scheme. He pleaded guilty to a single count of fentanyl distribution conspiracy, wherein he was identified as a significant Los Angeles-based source of the fentanyl-infused counterfeit oxycodone pills, selling them by the thousands, often at rates less than a dollar per pill, according to court documents. The prosecution brought to light Felix's participation in moving tens of thousands of these dangerous pills to street-level dealers, according to the press release.
Felix's arrest transpired on November 16, 2023, and subsequent searches led to the discovery of firearms and ammunition in his residence, which he admitted to possessing for safety. His Instagram account yielded further evidence of his involvement, with posts displaying more firearms and large amounts of cash. The extensive investigation was a collaborative effort, involving units such as the DEA's Washington Division, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's Washington Division, the Metropolitan Police Department, and the ATF, with additional support from multiple DEA field offices and other federal agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Kinskey, Solomon S. Eppel, and Iris McCranie handled the prosecution responsibilities for the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section.
Hundreds of thousands of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills, landed Felix nearly 16 years behind bars, followed by five years of supervised release, as decided by U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. In a statement from the sentence's announcement shared by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, the coordinated effort caps a vital push to dismantle a significant artery of illicit fentanyl distribution, a substance implicated in the sharp rise of overdose deaths in recent years.