A 41-year-old man from Winter Garden will spend over two decades behind bars for running a pill operation wherein he pressed pills to look like legitimately manufactured pharmaceuticals that actually contained fentanyl.
Patrick Silfrain was sentenced by U.S. Middle District of Florida Judge Wendy Berger to spend 21 years and 10 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.
According to court documents, Silfrain ran an operation that pressed pills to look like manufactured pharmaceuticals. The pills actually contained fentanyl and fentanyl analogs.
Silfrain operated numerous pill presses at the same time and, according to authorities, had the capacity to produce up to 5,000 pills per hour. During an investigation into his activities, the Drug Enforcement Administration found that Silfrain had received numerous shipments of controlled substances and binding agents.
The DEA estimated that Silfrain’s operation received enough binding agents to press over three million pills.
On April 20, 2022, Silfrain and his co-conspirators were arrested by the DEA, who also executed search warrants at multiple locations. During the searches, over 23 kilograms of fentanyl and fentanyl analogs were uncovered.
Additionally, over 1 kilogram of methamphetamine, 17 firearms, 11 pill presses, and over $600,000 in U.S. currency were all seized.
Silfrain and two co-conspirators all pled guilty to their charges in November. The other two men in the scheme were sentenced to 6.5 and 19.5 years in prison.
As part of his sentence, Silfrain must also forfeit firearms used in the conspiracy, as well as jewelry, and over $600,000 in currency, all of which was traceable to the conspiracy.