Man Supplied Fentanyl In Bucks Co. For 3 Years: DA

LOWER BUCKS COUNTY, PA —A Philadelphia man has been sentenced to seven to 14 years in state prison for supplying fentanyl throughout Bucks County since May 2021, authorities said.

Brian Franklin, 25, pleaded guilty on Monday before Common Pleas Judge Charissa J. Liller to one count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. In addition to the state prison sentence, the judge ordered he must have full-time employment within 60 days of his release.

Since 2021, Franklin delivered more than 1,000 fentanyl pills monthly and used a mobile payment app to get paid for the drugs, the investigation found.

Franklin was arrested in December 2023 after an investigation by the Bucks County Detectives Drug Strike Force and the Middletown Township Police Department determined he was the source supplier of fentanyl pills to other drug dealers in Bucks County since May 2021.

The pressed fentanyl pills were made to look identical to oxycodone pills, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said.

A review of his transactions showed that he received nearly $60,000 through the mobile payment app for the delivered drugs.

During the investigation, law enforcement recovered more than 1,800 pressed fentanyl pills that were delivered by Franklin.

The case was investigated by the Bucks County Detectives Drug Strike Force and the Middletown Township Police Department, with assistance from the Bensalem Township Police Department, the Bristol Township Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, and Homeland Security Investigations SAC Philadelphia.

The Bucks County Detectives Drug Strike Force is a part of the Liberty Mid-Atlantic High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, focusing on areas of drug trafficking and gun violence.