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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Drug cartel members get a decade in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl in Eastern Washington

FILE - In this June 6, 2017 file photo, an example of the amount of fentanyl that can be deadly after a news conference about deaths from fentanyl exposure, at DEA Headquarters in Arlington Va.   (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Two men convicted of trafficking hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to Eastern Washington were sentenced Thursday to eight and 10 years in federal prison respectively.

Josue Medina-Perez, 24, and Francisco Delgado, 35, both from Phoenix, admitted to being members of a drug trafficking organization tied directly to Sinaloa, Mexico, that operated in Phoenix and supplied Eastern Washington, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Washington.

Law enforcement identified Medina-Perez and Delgado’s operation as one of the first major sources of fentanyl-laced pills in Eastern Washington, the release said.

The two were responsible for distributing about 5,000-10,000 pills per week beginning in 2017, according to the release. The pills, made to look like prescription drugs, were laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 100 times more potent than morphine, that can be deadly at small doses through inhalation or touch, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

According to the release, Federal Judge Edward Shea said at the sentencing hearing that fentanyl is “the most dangerous and insidious drug facing our community today.”

Medina-Perez and Delgado, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Van Marter, will spend five and four years, respectively, under court supervision after their releases, according to the statement.

Joseph Harrington, Acting U.S.Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, said in the news release that his office will “aggressively prosecute cases involving fentanyl distribution, and the sentence imposed in this case demonstrates that fentanyl dealers will be held accountable for their illegal conduct.”

The Spokane Resident Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration partnered with Kennewick, Pasco and Richland police departments during the investigation, which was part of a larger Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation.