Cincinnati Man Convicted of Distribution of Fentanyl Causing Serious Bodily Injury

COVINGTON, Ky. — A Cincinnati man will serve 25 years in federal prison, after admitting in federal court that he distributed fentanyl to an individual in northern Kentucky, who overdosed, but survived after receiving medical treatment.

On Thursday, during the fourth day of trial, held in Covington, Antoine Dudley, 32, pleaded guilty to distributing a controlled substance that caused serious bodily injury.  U.S. District Judge Amul Thapar accepted a binding plea agreement that will require Dudley to serve 25 years in prison and 15 years of supervised release.  He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 1, 2016; and he must serve at least 85 percent of his prison sentence.  Dudley also agreed to forfeit money and two cellular phones seized at the time of his arrest.      

“The increasing use of naloxone saves lives that would otherwise be lost to drug overdoses,” said Kerry B. Harvey, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky.  “Happily, that was the case here, but the severe penalty for selling drugs that result in an overdose applies, even if the victim survives.  We intend to use every tool available to us in order to combat Kentucky’s opioid epidemic-including the mandatory sentence of 20 to life in cases such as this one.”

According to testimony at trial, Dudley regularly sold both heroin and fentanyl, to multiple customers throughout northern Kentucky, during a period of time between September 1, 2014 and his arrest on May 8, 2015.  Evidence showed that he distributed fentanyl, in Kenton County, on November 21, 2014 that caused the user to overdose and stop breathing.  Paramedics of the Covington Fire Department responded to the call and were able to revive the victim of the overdose through the administration of naloxone (Narcan).  The victim has made a full recovery, but evidence showed that she would have died if not for the actions of the responding paramedics.     

Dudley was on trial for conspiracy to distribute heroin and fentanyl and related distribution offenses. Dudley was initially charged in September of 2015. 

Dudley was prosecuted under the U.S. Attorney’s Office Overdose Prosecution Initiative, which has become an important tool in the battle against the heroin and opioid epidemic. 

For more information visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-edky/pr/united-states-attorneys-office-announces-successful-results-overdose-prosecution

U.S. Attorney Harvey, and Jennifer Moore, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, jointly announced the conviction.

The investigation was conducted by the F.B.I. Safe Streets Task Force and the Covington Police Department.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office was represented in the case by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Bracke.