Two men have been sentenced to prison for orchestrating a drug trafficking scheme that sent fentanyl and other dangerous substances from California to Virginia.
According to court records, Devin Joseph Stukes-McFarland, 27, of Virginia Beach, distributed fentanyl marketed as Percocet through an online service. His supplier, Brian Malik Williams, 27, of Modesto, California, mailed him drugs including fentanyl, Xanax, and ketamine over several months.
From September 2021 to March 2023, Williams sent at least 15 parcels containing controlled substances to Stukes-McFarland. Payments were exchanged through platforms like Cash App and Apple Pay. Authorities started monitoring the operation in early 2023, conducting two controlled purchases of fentanyl pills from Stukes-McFarland in February and March.
The operation unraveled in late March 2023, when a U.S. Postal Inspector posed as a delivery worker to deliver a parcel containing over 4,200 fentanyl pills to Stukes-McFarland’s Virginia Beach home. After the package was accepted, law enforcement executed a search warrant, arresting Stukes-McFarland and recovering thousands of fentanyl pills, Xanax tablets, and other substances.
Both men pled guilty to charges related to drug trafficking. On July 11, Stukes-McFarland received a 12-year prison sentence, while Williams, sentenced just this week, received 10 years.
The case underscores the devastating reach of fentanyl trafficking and the collaborative efforts of local and federal authorities to dismantle such operations.