For Selling Fatal Designer Drug, Man Gets 15 Years in Prison

GREENBELT, MD — A Silver Spring man received a 15-year sentence in federal prison Monday after pleading guilty to providing an unidentified victim with a fatal dose of a heroin substitute, according to federal prosecutors.

Jeffrey Sean Nazari, 44, also pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a firearm, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland announced. Before his arrest in January 2015, Nazari had previous felony convictions and was barred from possessing firearms and ammunition.

In a plea agreement, Nazari admitted to selling acetyl fentanyl, an opioid designer drug estimated to be 15 times more potent than morphine. He also admitted that for about five years, he periodically sold heroin and other drugs to the victim.

On Jan. 4, 2015, Nazari went to the victim's home and sold him acetyl fentanyl, the prosecutors said. The next day, the victim was found dead. A medical examiner "determined that the victim’s cause of death was acetyl fentanyl intoxication," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.

On Jan. 6, another drug customer went to Nazari’s home. After the drug deal, police stopped and searched the customer’s vehicle "and recovered residue from the acetyl fentanyl analogue that Nazari had sold to the customer, as well as drug paraphernalia with acetyl fentanyl analogue and heroin residue," the statement added.

In a search of Nazari's home the next day, members of law enforcement seized 7.5 grams of acetyl fentanyl, 10 grams of cocaine and nine grams of testosterone, as well as two digital scales and a loaded .380 caliber handgun. As they entered the home with a search warrant, "Nazari was in the basement bathroom, attempting to flush drugs down the toilet," prosecutors said.

His 15-year sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Roger Titus at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt. Nazari will also serve three years of supervised release after he finishes his time in prison.

Image: Shutterstock