Manchester Woman Pleads Guilty for Her Role in a Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl
CONCORD, N.H. – A Manchester woman has pleaded guilty in federal court for her role in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl in New Hampshire. She is the third of the 22 defendants in the conspiracy to plead guilty, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces.
Alesha Neault, age 38, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, namely, fentanyl. U.S. District Court Judge Samantha Elliott scheduled sentencing for May 3, 2024. The defendant was indicted on April 26, 2023.
On September 13, 2022, the defendant sold approximately 10 grams of fentanyl, and another 10 grams of fentanyl on October 6, 2022. Customers called a phone number for a “dispatch” line used to purchase narcotics and would speak to a dispatcher who would put the defendant in touch with the customer to complete the drug sale. The defendant or her associate would then arrange a meeting place for the drug transaction. On both occasions, the defendant met the customer at an agreed-upon location in Manchester, picked the customer up in a car in which she was a passenger, and provided the customer with fentanyl in exchange for money inside of the car.
The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, at least three (3) years of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $1,000,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration led the investigation. Valuable assistance was provided by the Manchester Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron Gingrande and Jarad Hodes are prosecuting the case.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
