Pennsylvania Man Sentenced to Life in Federal Prison for Dealing Fentanyl Analogue that Caused Fatal Overdoses in Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore.—A Pennsylvania man who completed more than 7,800 individual darknet fentanyl sales in less than two years and was linked by investigators to dozens of fatal overdoses across the United States was sentenced to life in federal prison today for distributing a fentanyl analogue on AlphaBay, a former darknet marketplace, that caused the overdoses of three people in Oregon, two of whom died.

Henry Konah Koffie, 38, of Darby, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to life in federal prison and three years’ supervised release.

“Henry Koffie’s overdose victims purchased fentanyl from him on the darknet for as much as $40 a gram, waited for it to arrive, consumed it, and tragically overdosed. Today, individuals seeking fentanyl need only walk to a nearby street corner and hand over a dollar or two for a similar quantity. In many ways, it is darknet dealers like Henry Koffie who paved the way for the fentanyl crisis still gripping our communities,” said Natalie Wight, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. “We know no sentence can heal the trauma experienced by families who have lost loved ones, but it is our hope that today’s sentence, and knowing Henry Koffie cannot take any more innocent lives, will bring some degree of closure for them.”

“While no sentence can bring back the lives lost to the blatant indifference and outright greed of this drug trafficker, he will no longer pose a threat to communities across the country,” said Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer, overseeing Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in the Pacific Northwest. “In less than two years, Koffie used the darknet to conduct thousands of drug transactions that could have resulted in more fentanyl overdose deaths. Through our numerous partnerships with local and federal law enforcement, HSI will continue conducting investigations to unveil the anonymity drug dealers attempt to use to avoid getting caught while selling deadly illicit narcotics.”

“In today’s sentencing of Henry Koffie, the culmination of a collaborative effort between federal and local law enforcement agencies in Portland, we see justice prevail. The United States Postal Inspection Service extends its gratitude to the Portland Police Bureau, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Attorney’s Office for their invaluable partnerships that led to the conviction of this purveyor of death on a national scale. Henry Koffie's reckless actions, demonstrating a blatant disregard for the lives of others, are reprehensible and have now met their reckoning,” said Tony Galetti, Inspector in Charge of the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Seattle Division. “Today's verdict is a resolute statement that such behavior will not go unpunished. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, hoping that this outcome brings them a measure of closure and marks the beginning of the healing process.”

“Fentanyl has killed and destroyed too many lives in our community,” said Bob Day, Chief of the Portland Police Bureau (PPB). “We want to thank our partners for joining efforts to investigate and prosecute this important case. Combatting dangerous illegal drugs in our community remains a priority as we work to prevent further heartbreaking and senseless deaths. I also want to extend my sincere sympathy to the families of the victims and hope today’s sentencing brings some comfort to them.”

According to court documents, in just over a year, three Portland residents overdosed on furanyl fentanyl supplied by Koffie, a darknet narcotics vendor known as DNMKingpin and later Narcoboss on AlphaBay. The first victim was a 19-year-old student at Portland State University who, on May 2, 2016, overdosed 30 minutes after ingesting powdered furanyl fentanyl. Paramedics administered Naloxone and breathing assistance to the student, saving her life. Investigators interviewed the student’s source who said he supplied the student with the powdered furanyl fentanyl he purchased from DNMKingpin on AlphaBay.

One year later, on May 6, 2017, PPB officers responded to a fatal overdose of a 27-year-old in southeast Portland. The victim’s roommates told the officers that the victim had ordered fentanyl from Narcoboss on AlphaBay who had advertised the furanyl fentanyl as “China White.” One roommate further told officers that he and the victim had ordered a gram of fentanyl from Narcoboss for $40 and that it had arrived in a USPS priority mail envelope shipped from Philadelphia.

Three weeks later, on May 29, 2017, PPB officers responded to a fatal overdose of another 27-year-old who had resided in northeast Portland. Officers located a small vial of furanyl fentanyl in the victim’s residence as well as a notebook containing information on accessing AlphaBay and a Bitcoin wallet. They further located an envelope in the victim’s trash can with a return address in Philadelphia.

Between May 25 and June 21, 2017, investigators conducted five controlled buys of powdered fentanyl from Narcoboss. All five orders were fulfilled from addresses in and around Philadelphia. Around the same time, investigators in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania located and identified Koffie’s fingerprints on packages of furanyl fentanyl resembling those shipped to law enforcement in Portland that were purchased from AlphaBay via Narcoboss. 

Further investigation revealed that between April 6, 2016, and May 23, 2017, Koffie received 14 packages of furanyl fentanyl totaling approximately seven kilograms from distributors in China and Hong Kong. In May and June of 2017, two additional packages shipped to Koffie containing another half kilogram of furanyl fentanyl were intercepted by United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP). It was later determined that Koffie used an online postage company called Stampnik to purchase more than 5,700 postage labels he used to ship furanyl fentanyl throughout the United States, including the labels affixed to parcels seized in Oregon, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. 

In just under two years, Koffie used AlphaBay to sell approximately 43 pounds of furanyl fentanyl in 7,849 individual transactions to customers in all 50 states. In addition to the three overdoses Koffie was convicted of causing in Oregon, investigators identified at least 27 other people who ordered furanyl fentanyl from Koffie and, shortly after, overdosed and died. Koffie was also linked to 27 other non-fatal overdoses.

On July 12, 2017, Koffie was charged by criminal complaint in the District of Oregon with distribution of a controlled substance resulting in serious bodily injury or death. Later, on April 21, 2021, he was charged by superseding indictment with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, distribution of a controlled substance resulting in serious bodily injury, distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death, and distribution of a controlled substance.

On March 7, 2023, a federal jury found Koffie guilty on two counts of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death, one count of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in serious bodily injury, and five counts of distribution of a controlled substance.

Koffie is under federal indictment in two other judicial districts. On August 1, 2017, a federal grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania returned an indictment charging Koffie with four counts of distributing a controlled substance. On September 20, 2017, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania returned a two-count indictment charging Koffie with distributing a controlled substance and distributing a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a playground. Both cases are pending.

This case was investigated by HSI, USPIS, and PPB with assistance from the FBI, Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force, CBP, Philadelphia Police Department, and Pennsylvania State Police. It was prosecuted by Scott M. Kerin, Parakram Singh, and Andrew T. Ho, Assistant U.S. Attorneys for the District of Oregon.

On July 20, 2017, the Justice Department, in partnership with the FBI, United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), HSI and IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), seized and shut down AlphaBay, which, at the time, was the largest criminal marketplace online. At the time of its seizure, AlphaBay had operated for over two years on the darknet and was used to sell illegal drugs, stolen and fraudulent identification documents and access devices, counterfeit goods, malware and other hacking tools, firearms, and toxic chemicals throughout the world.

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