Saginaw man sentenced to 30 years in prison for running fentanyl pill-pressing operation

A Saginaw, Texas, man was sentenced on Friday to 30 years in federal prison for running a fentanyl pill-pressing operation, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

The Drug Enforcement Administration took possession of the pill press, according to a news release from the USAO.

Adrian Warren, 33, also known as “Peanut,” pleaded guilty in October 2022 to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. He was sentenced on Friday by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor.

Co-defendant Joanna Martinez-Otero, 28, pleaded guilty in October 2022 to maintaining a drug-involved premises and was sentenced on Tuesday to 15 years in federal prison. Jamie Rodriguez, 39, pleaded guilty in September 2022 to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and was sentenced in January to about 11 years in federal prison.

“Fentanyl is the single deadliest drug threat our nation has ever encountered,” said Eduardo A. Chávez, Special Agent in Charge of DEA operations in Dallas-Fort Worth. “The sentence handed down to Mr. Warren, Ms. Martinez-Otero, and Mr. Rodriguez is a clear message that the production and trafficking of fentanyl will not be tolerated in our neighborhoods. DEA and all of our law enforcement partners will continue to work together and keep this poison off our streets.”

The investigation began when DEA agents learned that Mr. Warren and others were likely operating a pill press machine to make counterfeit pills in Fort Worth, according to court documents.

Over the course of the investigation, DEA agents learned that Warren had purchased more than two dozen kilograms of excipient — an inactive binder used in the production of pills — in various colors, including blue (often used in the illicit production of counterfeit oxycodone pills), white (often used in the illicit production of counterfeit Xanax pills), and yellow. In the months that followed, his associates, Martinez-Otero and Rodriguez, also purchased several kilograms of excipient in a range of colors.

Agents met with a young woman on Aug. 3, 2022 who was seen exiting Warren’s residence. She described herself as a recovering drug addict and consented to a cursory search of her phone, where agents found coded text messages between her and Warren discussing narcotics. They later watched as she entered a fast-food restaurant, where she met with Martinez-Otero and tipped off the conspirators about the DEA’s investigation.

Agents followed Rodriguez to a storage facility that same evening, where he met Warren and Martinez-Otero. After Rodriguez left the facility, a marked patrol unit pulled him over and arrested him. He admitted that Warren had asked him to deliver a backpack of approximately 2,000 counterfeit pills to the storage unit and confirmed that Mr. Warren had a tableting machine, or pill press.

Agents also attempted to follow Warren from a residence in Saginaw that same night, but he began driving erratically and at a high rate of speed, making surveillance challenging, according to the USAO. Shortly thereafter, agents spotted smoke emanating from a nearby field and discovered Warren’s truck had skidded off the street, rolled over, and came to rest on the cab. Warren had apparently escaped the wreckage and fled on foot. Law enforcement arrested Mr. Warren a short time later, according to the release.

Agents found a used pill press machine covered in blue fentanyl residue amid the debris from the accident. Agents later discovered a counterfeit blue M-30 pill containing fentanyl sandwiched between the punch dies of the pill press machine.

Agents then followed Martinez-Otero to the residence in Saginaw, where they arrested her and seized more than 100 counterfeit blue M-30 pills that field-tested positive for fentanyl. They also recovered multiple kilograms of excipient and a short barrel rifle.

In the storage facility, they found thousands of additional pills and other controlled substances, including 45 grams worth of counterfeit blue M-30 pills laced with fentanyl, 100 grams of counterfeit hydrocodone pills laced with fentanyl, 174 grams of counterfeit Xanax bars laced with fentanyl, 576 grams of counterfeit MDMA (ecstasy) pills laced with fentanyl, 1248 grams of methamphetamine, a bag of blue excipient laced with heroin, and a 9mm pistol previously reported as stolen.

“One of the scariest things about fentanyl is that drug traffickers press it into pills that look identical to real pills containing other medications, meaning many users are buying and ingesting these counterfeit pills off the street without knowing they contain a drug one hundred times more potent than morphine,” said Leigha Simonton, U. S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

“Fentanyl is tearing through our communities at an alarming rate, poisoning our friends, our family members, and worst of all, our children. We will not rest until we stop this killer drug from circulating in our communities. We urge everyone to immediately educate themselves and their loved ones about the dangers of ingesting any type of pill that comes off the street because it could contain this deadly substance.”

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Division Fort Worth District Office, U.S. Postal Inspections Service, and the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation. The Saginaw Police Department assisted in Warren’s apprehension. U.S. Attorney Levi Thomas prosecuted the case.