Beloit Man Sentenced to 7 1/2 Years for Fentanyl Distribution

MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Darnell Isabell, 39, Beloit, Wisconsin, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 7 ½ years in federal prison for distributing 40 grams or more of fentanyl. Isabell pleaded guilty to this charge on March 25, 2024. Isabell committed the instant offense while under federal supervision for a previous drug trafficking conviction. Judge Conley revoked that supervision and imposed an additional 18-month sentence to run consecutive to the sentence on the new conviction.  

On January 11, 2023, law enforcement suspected that Isabell planned to sell fentanyl. Surveilling officers saw Isabell meet with a motorist on Oakwood Avenue, Beloit where Isabell delivered two ounces of fentanyl.  Officers seized the substance that Isabell delivered to the motorist, and it tested positive for fentanyl. A subsequent search of Isabell’s home resulted in the recovery of additional amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, and $2,120 in U.S. currency.

Judge Conley observed that Isabell had spent most of his adult life selling drugs. Judge Conley noted that it was an aggravating factor that Isabell sold drugs while under federal supervised release from his 2017 cocaine distribution conviction. Isabell served 8 years in prison for that conviction, before being released to supervision in 2022.

The charge against Isabell was the result of an investigation conducted by the Rock County Sheriff’s Office, Beloit Police Department, Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Anderson prosecuted this case.