A 34-year-old Albany man has been sentenced to 92 months in federal prison for distributing fentanyl after a controlled buy in a Baton Rouge restaurant parking lot turned up nearly 4,000 pills pressed to look like prescription oxycodone. Devonte Skinner's sentence, handed down by a federal judge in the Middle District of Louisiana, immediately drew public criticism from the top federal prosecutor overseeing the case, who says the punishment does not come close to matching the danger Skinner posed to the community.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, published by an17.com, the case began on February 21, 2024, when a confidential source met Skinner and another individual in a restaurant parking lot on O'Neal Lane in Baton Rouge. Investigators with Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted a controlled purchase during that meeting, with Skinner located in the front passenger seat of a vehicle as pills and money changed hands with the confidential source. The buy yielded 539.2 grams of fentanyl, including 3,792 pills pressed to resemble 30-milligram oxycodone tablets.
A Sentence Far Below Federal Guidelines
Skinner was convicted of distribution of fentanyl and sentenced to 92 months in federal prison, along with five years of supervised release, per the same press release. U.S. Attorney Kurt L. Wall announced the sentencing and did not hide his frustration with the outcome, stating that a 92-month sentence is insufficient given the scale of the offense. Wall's office noted the prosecution was led by Paul L. Pugliese and fell under the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Louisiana, working in connection with the Homeland Security Task Force in New Orleans.
The gap between the sentence and what prosecutors expected is stark. Federal sentencing guidelines called for 262 to 327 months of imprisonment, according to the release — meaning U.S. Chief District Judge Shelly D. Dick's 92-month term represented a downward variance of roughly 14 to 19 years below what guidelines recommended, as detailed by the U.S. Department of Justice. Wall said his office is considering all options, including an appeal.
Wall drove the point home with a vivid comparison, likening Skinner's distribution of nearly 4,000 fentanyl pills to firing 3,972 rounds of live ammunition on public streets, according to the Justice Department. He also reported that the district has experienced hundreds of fentanyl overdoses over the past few years, even as he acknowledged that fentanyl overdose numbers are beginning to decrease. Wall said fentanyl continues to pose a grave threat to communities throughout Louisiana.
A Habitual Offender Already Serving 70 Years
The federal case is not Skinner's first brush with fentanyl trafficking charges, nor his most severe sentence. In August 2024, Louisiana 21st Judicial District Court Judge Charlotte Foster sentenced Skinner to 70 years in state prison without eligibility for good-time early release after he was convicted as a habitual offender for possessing fentanyl, methamphetamine, and marijuana with intent to distribute, according to Unfiltered with Kiran. That conviction stemmed from an April 2024 case involving Skinner, identified in available reporting as a Tangipahoa Parish man, in which law enforcement seized 3,000 fentanyl pills, methamphetamine, and other controlled substances, as reported by Livingston Parish News.
Skinner's name also surfaced in a larger regional takedown. In December 2024, the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office announced that he was among four co-conspirators arrested during a multi-agency operation targeting a drug ring led by Tyrone Broadway, according to the Unfiltered with Kiran report. The federal case against Skinner traces back to an October 2024 criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, which also named co-defendant Demonte Montrel James, according to court records reviewed by PacerMonitor.
The Homeland Security Task Force's Role
The prosecution was tied to the Homeland Security Task Force, described in the release as a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings. The task force was established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, and its New Orleans component comprises ICE, HSI, the FBI, DEA, ATF, USMS, ICE-ERO, IRS-CI, USPIS, CGIS, CBP OFO, and CBP BP, per the same press release. The task force also places emphasis on investigating and prosecuting child trafficking and other crimes involving children, uses available tools to prosecute and remove violent criminal aliens, and Wall praised HSI, DEA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office for their work on the case.
Matt Wright, identified in the release as an HSI official, said fentanyl traffickers endanger communities with every pill they put on the street, adding that HSI will continue working with federal, state, and local partners to identify, investigate, and hold accountable fentanyl distributors.
Why Federal Prosecutors Say the Threat Persists
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, according to Livingston Parish News. Its danger helps explain why federal authorities treat even small volumes as a severe public safety threat, and why Wall framed the case in such stark terms.
The sentencing dispute comes even as regional overdose data shows sustained improvement. CDC provisional health data reported in 2025 found drug overdose deaths in Louisiana dropped 35.2% between 2023 and 2024, mirroring a nationwide reduction in fatal synthetic opioid poisonings, according to Axios New Orleans. In East Baton Rouge Parish, adjacent to Livingston Parish, the coroner reported 123 overdose deaths in 2025, with other cases pending, according to parish coroner data cited by Unfiltered with Kiran. In July 2025, federal legislation sponsored by Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy was signed into law to permanently establish harsher criminal penalties for fentanyl distribution, Axios New Orleans reported, underscoring the state's continued legislative push against traffickers even as fatality numbers decline.
