Dark web fentanyl dealer connected to three Portland overdoses sentenced to life
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A Pennsylvania man who sold fentanyl on the dark web, leading to three overdoses in Portland, has been sentenced to life in federal prison.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon reported that 38-year-old Henry Koffie conducted 7,849 furanyl fentanyl sales on former dark website AlphaBay in just two years. Using aliases “DNMKingpin” and “NarcoBoss,” the former Darby, Penn., resident sold about 43 pounds of the drug to consumers across all 50 states.
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According to the officials, Koffie’s first victim was a 19-year-old Portland State University student who experienced an overdose 30 minutes after ingesting powdered fentanyl in May 2016. That person survived.
In early May 2017, the Portland Police Bureau responded to a deadly overdose in a southeast neighborhood. Roommates of the 27-year-old Portlander told authorities the “NarcoBoss” had sold them one gram of fentanyl for $40.
Later that same month, local law enforcement responded to another deadly overdose in Northeast Portland. At that scene, the Attorney’s Office said officers recovered a notebook with information on how to use AlphaBay and a BitCoin wallet.
All overdoses were linked to Koffie’s dark website accounts or had Philadelphia return addresses.
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In the ensuing investigation, detectives conducted five fentanyl transactions with “NarcoBoss.” Each of the orders originated from the Philadelphia area, according to investigators. Officials in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania also identified Koffie’s fingerprints on several packages containing the narcotics.
Investigators determined the fentanyl dealer received his supply from distributors in China and Hong Kong and used the online company Stampnik to purchase thousands of postage labels for his orders.
In total, authorities estimated that 29 deadly overdoses (including the two in Oregon) were connected to Koffie. An additional 27 non-fatal overdoses were linked to the man as well.
In March of this year, Koffie was convicted of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in serious bodily injury, two counts of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death, and five counts of distribution of a controlled substance.
On Monday, the former Pennsylvania man was sentenced to life in prison and three years of supervised release.
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“Henry Koffie’s overdose victims purchased fentanyl from him on the darknet for as much as $40 a gram, waited for it to arrive, consumed it, and tragically overdosed,” Natalie Wight, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, said. “Today, individuals seeking fentanyl need only walk to a nearby street corner and hand over a dollar or two for a similar quantity. In many ways, it is darknet dealers like Henry Koffie who paved the way for the fentanyl crisis still gripping our communities.”
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