A Peekskill fentanyl pipeline that prosecutors say was run from inside a federal prison has earned its architect another decade behind bars.
On Tuesday, a federal judge in White Plains sentenced Kerome Lendon Paisley, 49, to 10 years in prison after prosecutors said he conspired from behind bars to traffic more than a kilogram of fentanyl and arrange the sale of over 10,000 counterfeit pills that resembled oxycodone. Paisley, who had been nearing the end of a nearly 22-year sentence for a prior narcotics conspiracy, was arrested the day he was due to be released, according to court records. The new sentence includes five years of supervised release once he gets out.
“After serving nearly 22 years in federal prison for a prior narcotics conspiracy, Kerome Paisley was given a chance to reenter society. Instead, he chose to traffic more than 10,000 counterfeit fentanyl pills from behind bars.”
— U.S. Attorney SDNY (@SDNYNews) April 28, 2026
Prosecutors' account of the scheme
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York say Paisley used a contraband cellphone in February 2025 to line up the sale of the counterfeit pills, allegedly directing the operation from inside prison. A co-conspirator then brought the pills to Peekskill, where law enforcement intercepted the shipment and seized the drugs. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, SDNY added that Paisley was arrested the same day he was scheduled to walk out of custody and that U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel imposed the new 10-year term. Prosecutors credited Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration with the investigative work that shut the operation down.
Contraband phones and counterfeit pills
Researchers say the case tracks with a growing national problem: contraband cellphones that let incarcerated people keep running criminal enterprises from inside correctional facilities. A 2024 Urban Institute needs assessment found that prison authorities in 20 states recovered more than 25,000 illicit phones in a single year, and documented how those devices can undercut institutional security and help coordinate outside crime. The Urban Institute laid out common interdiction tactics as well as major blind spots in how those phones are tracked and blocked.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has repeatedly warned that counterfeit pills are a lethal public-health threat. DEA lab testing shows roughly 29 percent of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl carry a potentially deadly dose, and the agency’s outreach materials stress that pills bought anywhere other than a licensed pharmacy are inherently risky. The DEA also notes that even a few milligrams of fentanyl can be fatal. Federal sentencing data show that fentanyl prosecutions have surged since 2020 and that sentences for fentanyl trafficking have climbed in recent years, according to The U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Case status and penalties
In addition to the 10-year prison term, Paisley was ordered to serve five years of supervised release. The case remains with the White Plains Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, where Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmi Schickler is handling the prosecution. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the matter is detailed in Press Release Number 26-112.
Officials say the sentencing highlights how modern contraband and counterfeit-pill production can start behind bars and still have deadly consequences on the street. Federal health and law-enforcement data indicate that illicit fentanyl remains a leading driver of overdose deaths. CDC data and federal warnings continue to underscore the risk of taking pills that do not come directly from a licensed pharmacy.
