Prison for man in one of state’s largest fentanyl seizures, at Bloomington hotel

A man from suburban Seattle has been sentenced to prison after being caught in a Bloomington hotel with 24 pounds of fentanyl-laden pills, among the largest seizures in the state at that time of the potent opioid that has caused a surge in overdose-related deaths and big headaches for law enforcement.

Marcus Trice, 38, of Lakewood, Wash., was given a six-year term in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis on Tuesday after pleading guilty in January to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. His sentence includes five years of supervised release once he leaves prison.

“The event still remains one of the larger one-time seizure events in [Minnesota],” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a court filing in May that argued for Trice to receive a 10-year term.

Charges of first-degree possession with intent to distribute and credit card fraud were also filed in Hennepin County District Court in connection with this arrest nearly two years ago. That case was dismissed soon after his guilty plea in federal court.

According to police and federal and state charges:

Bloomington officers responded Aug. 31, 2022, to a report of a possible act of fraud at a hotel involving Trice allegedly using someone else’s identity and credit card to pay $205 for a room.

Trice, who had flown from Seattle to the Twin Cities that night, appeared nervous as he told the officers he was in Minnesota for a funeral but could not name the person who died.

A subsequent search of his luggage turned up the 24 pounds of fentanyl pills and several credit cards. The pills were suspected to be counterfeits of the opioid oxycodone.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is roughly 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) points out that the challenge in combatting fentanyl trafficking is that it is inexpensive, widely available, highly addictive and comes in a variety of colors, shapes and forms – including powder and pills.

Drug traffickers are increasingly mixing fentanyl with other illicit drugs to drive addiction and create repeat business, and many victims of fentanyl poisoning were unaware they ingested fentanyl, the DOJ noted.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that more than 107,000 people died last year from a drug poisoning or overdose, and according to a recent study by the RAND Corporation, 42% of Americans know someone who died from a drug-related death.