A Kalamazoo man, Antjuan Pierre Jackson, has been sentenced to 27 years in federal prison after being found guilty of distributing fentanyl that led to a fatal overdose in 2022. The conviction also included possession with the intent to distribute over 40 grams of fentanyl. FOX 17 reports that Jackson's actions resulted in the death of an individual on Nov. 23, 2022, after the victim consumed the fentanyl sold to them by Jackson.
Serving previously for unarmed robbery, Jackson, who is now 39, was designated as a career offender at the sentencing. In a statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge expressed the devastating impact of fentanyl on communities, "Defendants who sell this poison and kill people in the process must be brought to justice."
Jackson's trial unearthed evidence that mere hours after the sale, the victim suffered a fatal fentanyl overdose. Despite this outcome, Jackson persisted in dealing drugs— a search of his home in December 2022 revealed more than 80 grams of fentanyl amongst items indicating drug trafficking activity. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, this quantity of fentanyl could produce up to 43,420 lethal doses.
Jackson will also face four years of supervised release following his imprisonment and is ordered to pay a $2,000 fine. "Every opioid overdose, especially overdose deaths, are tragic," Sergeant Brian Cake of the Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team told the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The case was a collaborative investigation effort by the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety (KDPS), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), with additional support from the Michigan State Police (MSP), and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie Carowan and Timothy Verhey.
