A 36-year-old Orlando man was sentenced to spend the next six and a half years behind bars for conspiring to distribute fentanyl.
On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced that Judge Carlos E. Mendoza sentenced Javier Alejandro Lopez Rivera to six years and six months in federal prison.
Last November, Lopez Rivera pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute over 40 grams of fentanyl and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.
According to court records, Lopez Rivera and his co-conspirator, Pedro Manuel Tapia Matos, were under investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration in March 2022.
From March 24, 2022 to April 6, 2022, the DEA used a confidential source to conduct undercover buys of ounce quantities of fentanyl from Lopez Rivera.
Over the course of multiple transactions, the undercover agent was able to purchase 60.4 grams of fentanyl.
On one occasion, the undercover agent purchased a firearm from Lopez Rivera in conjunction with fentanyl.
In addition to the DEA, the case was investigated by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Terry B. Livanos.