Saint Lucie County Fentanyl Trafficker Sentenced to Over 6 Years in Federal Prison

MIAMI - On Sept. 3, Patrick Ward, 39, of Saint Lucie County, Fla., was sentenced to 75 months in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for trafficking fentanyl. 

The sentence comes after Ward previously pleaded guilty to distributing fentanyl on three separate occasions. According to the court record, on July 6, July 13, and August 18, of 2022, Ward sold a total of 47 grams of fentanyl in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, and Acting Chief Richard R. Del Toro, Jr., of the Port St. Lucie Police Department (PSLPD) announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon. 

DEA Miami Field Division and PSLPD investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Porter prosecuted it.

According to the DEA’s National Drug Threat Assessment, synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl, are poisoning our nation. Fentanyl has proven to be a deadly poison that does not discriminate. Its victims include every gender, race, age, and economic background, and its debilitating effects are the same across all demographics.  Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Even in small doses, fentanyl can be deadly. Just one fentanyl pill can kill, as noted in DEA’s One Pill Can Kill campaign. As little as two milligrams, about the size of 5 grains of salt, can be fatal. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are the most common drugs involved in overdose deaths. Over 150 people die every day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Florida has seen an exponential increase in overdoses associated with fentanyl. In 2022, more than 5,622 people died from overdoses involving fentanyl and fentanyl analogs in Florida.

For more information visit:  https://www.fdle.state.fl.us/MEC/Publications-and-Forms/Documents/Drugs-in-Deceased-Persons/2022-Annual-Drug-Report-FINAL-(1).aspx; https://www.cdc.gov/opioids/basics/fentanyl.html#; and https://www.dea.gov/factsheets/fentanyl. 

You may find a copy of this press release (and any updates) on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 24-cr-14001.

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