Teron Deandre McNeil, a D.C. resident also known as “Wild Boy,” was sentenced to ten years in federal prison for his role in fentanyl trafficking and fraud involving unemployment insurance and PPP loans. His convictions stemmed from conspiracies to distribute large amounts of fentanyl and commit wire fraud, with authorities uncovering a trafficking network stretching from Mexico to Los Angeles and D.C. following the overdose of Diamond Lynch, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Court documents revealed that McNeil traveled to Southern California to buy counterfeit oxycodone laced with fentanyl, which he then smuggled back to D.C. via airlines or mail carriers. One intercepted parcel on December 7, 2021, destined for a D.C. recipient, contained over a thousand blue pills testing positive for a fentanyl analogue, and the investigation led to the seizure of over half a million fentanyl pills and multiple firearms, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
McNeil was sentenced for defrauding unemployment programs of over $44,000 and obtaining a PPP loan of about $20,833 through fraud. His co-conspirators took more than $83,300 from the Small Business Administration during the pandemic. The case was investigated by the ATF, Charles County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Kinskey, Solomon S. Eppel, and Iris McCranie prosecuted the case, as stated by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
