2 men in Myrtle Beach sentenced to federal prison for attempting to deal fentanyl
Two men will spend almost a decade in federal prison after pleading guilty to trying to sell fentanyl in Myrtle Beach.
Acting United States Attorney M. Rhett DeHart announced Friday that Fernando Contreras-Herrera, 25, and Cesar Inda-Silva, 25, both from Mexico, were each sentenced to eight years in federal prison.
On Jan. 22, officers with the Myrtle Beach Police Department intercepted a shipped package with indicators of narcotics, a news release form the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Police searched the box and found bricks of the deadly drug.
They replaced several of the bricks with “sham” narcotics, and delivered the box to its intended address in Myrtle Beach. Contreras-Herrera retrieved the package from the porch of the house and Inda-Silva arrived immediately after that, the press release said.
Law enforcement then executed a search warrant at the address. Contreras-Herrera and Inda-Silva were located in the living room of the home together with the package which had just been delivered. In the minutes since the delivery, the inner and outer boxes of the package and the safe had been opened, the “bricks” had been removed, and one of the “bricks” had been slit open.
The drugs were tested and revealed to be fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid. Further investigation revealed that Contreras-Herrera and Inda-Silva were to receive the fentanyl and deliver it to another person.
United States District Judge Sherri A. Lydon sentenced Contreras-Herrera and Inda-Silva each to eight years in federal prison, to be followed by a four-year term of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system.
