RUTLAND — A local man with a previous cocaine-dealing conviction has been sentenced to four years in prison for distributing the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
When he was arrested in May, Donald Perkins, 29, was on federal supervised release for a previous conviction of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. He served five years for that offense.
Last spring Perkins was charged with selling 88 grams of fentanyl in the Rutland area. The crime carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office, Perkins said he thought he was selling heroin, not fentanyl.
Fentanyl is considered significantly more dangerous than heroin and has been linked to numerous deaths in Vermont and across the country. Between 2010 and 2015 Vermont saw a sharp spike in the number of drug overdose deaths caused by fentanyl. Sentencing guidelines for distribution of fentanyl are stricter than for heroin.
Perkins was sentenced by U.S. District Judge J. Garvan Murtha. After his prison term, Perkins will be on three years of supervised release.
