Sunnyside man charged with selling fentanyl after Yakima police say he had 2,000 pills in pocket

Prosecutors have filed charges against a Sunnyside man who was found with about 2,000 fentanyl pills.

Ruben C. Roman Jr., 43, was charged with possession of fentanyl with intent to deliver in Yakima County Superior Court. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the charge Friday.

Roman has prior convictions for possession of stolen property, forgery, eluding, possession of methamphetamine, taking a motor vehicle without permission, violating a protection order, second-degree assault, second-degree theft and bail jumping.

The fentanyl charge stems from his Feb. 10 arrest in Yakima, after police found him slumped over in a car parked at the Motel 6, 1010 Staff Sgt. Pendleton Way.

Officers saw burnt foil in the car, which they said is used in taking or smoking certain drugs, according to court documents. Roman woke up after officers knocked on his car window and said he didn’t need medical help, the documents said.

Police placed him in custody after finding a domestic violence warrant in his name, according to court documents. When he was placed under arrest, officers found two sandwich-sized bags with a total of roughly 2,000 blue pills, which police said contained fentanyl, the documents said said, as well as $1,164 in several denominations they said indicated Roman was selling the drugs.

After placing him in the police car, officers found that the warrant was for Roman’s father. He was booked into the Yakima County jail on suspicion of possessing fentanyl with the intent to deliver it based on his possessing the pills.

He is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.