California Man Pleads Guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute 113 Grams of Fentanyl

Gulfport, MS – A Compton, California man pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 113 grams of fentanyl.

According to court documents, Jayma Nettles, 46, was identified as being a member of a drug-trafficking organization in California that was sending packages of narcotics to Mississippi dating back to 2019.  The overall investigation yielded 5,766 grams of pure methamphetamine, 236 grams of fentanyl, 84.2 grams of cocaine, and 7.8 kilograms of marijuana that were shipped to the Gulf Coast.  Jayma Nettles was responsible for sending 113 grams of fentanyl to the Coast in October of 2022.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, fentanyl is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.  The DEA reports that two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal, and one kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people.  More facts on fentanyl can be found at https://www.dea.gov/resources/facts-about-fentanyl and https://www.dea.gov/resources/facts-about-fentanyl.

Nettles pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. He is scheduled to be sentenced on November 20, 2024, and faces up to 40 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor- led, intelligence driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

U.S. Attorney Todd W. Gee of the Southern District of Mississippi and Assistant Special Agent in Anessa Daniels-McCaw of the Drug Enforcement Administration made the announcement.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica Rose is prosecuting the case.