Fentanyl Trafficker Who Distributed Lethally Potent Doses in the District and Maryland Sentenced to 63 Months in Federal Prison

Press Release

WASHINGTON - Mynor Josue Fernandez Alfaro, 24, of Dundalk, Maryland, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 63 months in federal prison for participating in a drug trafficking scheme that distributed thousands of doses of lethally potent fentanyl in Washington D.C. and Maryland.

The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, DEA Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Washington Division, Chief Marcus G. Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department, and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

Fernandez Alfaro, aka "Mino," pleaded guilty on June 21, 2024, to an information charging him with conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl. In addition to the 63-month prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes ordered Fernandez Alfaro to serve four years of supervised release.

According to court papers, Fernandez admitted that, along with co-defendant Edward Steven Monge, 23, of Beltsville, Maryland, he supplied co-conspirator Jennifer Echeverria Flores with more than 4,500 blue pills that contained varying concentrations fentanyl. Echeverria Flores then sold the pills to an undercover law enforcement officer (UC) in five transactions between February and July 2023 in Washington, DC and Maryland. More than half of those pills contained more than what DEA estimates is a lethal concentration of fentanyl, 2 milligrams per pill.

As part of his guilty plea, Fernandez Alfaro admitted that he distributed fentanyl to other redistributors and clients besides Echeverria Flores. Social media posts indicate that Fernandez Alfaro was involved in a lucrative distribution scheme as early as October 2022. Monge advertised the drugs for sale on his social media, while Fernandez Alfaro provided the drugs to customers and coordinated payment through his own CashApp account. Between July 2022 and July 2023, the pair netted more than $150,000 in incoming Cash App transactions, while not otherwise legitimately employed.

Despite this large volume of digital payments, evidence suggests that Fernandez Alfaro and Monge primarily accepted payment for these pills in cash. Fernandez Alfaro's Instagram account and cell phone contained dozens of photographs of him with significant amounts of cash, boasting of the scheme's success.

Fernandez Alfaro posted photos to social media accounts where he boasted about his lucrative fentanyl sales.

In addition to his distribution of significant quantities of fentanyl, Fernandez Alfaro, a citizen of El Salvador, used at least four different firearms to protect his supply and profits through intimidation and threats of violence. Many of these firearms appeared to have extended magazines or were military-style rifles.

Co-conspirator Monge was sentenced on May 29, 2024, to 96 months in prison for his role in this scheme.

This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

This investigation additionally was an effort of Montgomery County Police under the Maryland Criminal Intelligence Network (MCIN). MCIN was launched in 2017 and provides grant funding and strategic support through the Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services to MCIN member sites to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal organizations through inter-agency collaboration and data sharing to make Maryland safer. The Governor's Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services (GOCPP) funded this project.

This matter was investigated by the DEA - Washington Division. Valuable assistance was provided by Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Gaelin Bernstein of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney David T. Henek, of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses section. Valuable assistance was provided by former Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jordan Leiter and Javier Urbina.

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Updated November 15, 2024