United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark sentenced Roman Frenchie to 60 months in prison today. The 22-year-old Overland, Missouri, resident pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl.

Beginning in 2018 and continuing until November 20, 2019, Frenchie and his co-conspirators began distributing large quantities of fentanyl in the St. Louis Metropolitan area. Their initial supplier was Juan Gonzalez, who was charged in a separate indictment with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute both fentanyl and methamphetamine. Gonzalez continued to supply Frenchie and his co-conspirators until Drug Enforcement Administration agents in the St. Louis Division and U.S. Marshals arrested Gonzalez in September 2019.

Prior to his arrest, Gonzalez would either ship fentanyl through mail or hand-deliver the narcotics to co-conspirators who traveled to Arizona at the request of co-conspirators including Marcius Futrell. Futrell was also charged with drug conspiracy in the same case as Gonzalez. While Gonzalez and Futrell were fugitives from the charges in that indictment, they continued to conspire with Frenchie and others to distribute fentanyl.

After September 2019, Frenchie and his co-conspirators then obtained another source of fentanyl in Arizona and continued their distribution. Once the raw fentanyl arrived in the the St. Louis area, co-conspirators would "cut" or "stretch" the fentanyl with products like Dormin to increase its volume and their profit. The cut fentanyl was then put in capsules and sold by members of the conspiracy. The conspiracy was responsible for distributing in excess of four kilograms of fentanyl.

DEA investigated the case along with the FBI, and St. Louis County and St. Louis Metropolitan Police Departments.