ST. LOUIS (KMOX) -- A Los Angeles man who ran a major fentanyl-selling operation in St. Louis was sentenced to life in prison, Friday, in federal court.
The Drug Enforcement Administration says 54-year-old Gerald Hunter was the kingpin, the head of a drug gang here.
Ten members have been caught and sent to prison. He was the last one caught.
Hunter jumped over a fence at a Florissant storage locker in 2017, the night they found 60 pounds of fentanyl on the table, enough to kill tens of thousands of people from overdoses.
"The sentence remanded to Gerald Hunter is a reminder there is a price to pay for those who choose to poison our communities with fentanyl. This drug trafficking organization was dismantled by the hard work of numerous law enforcement agencies working together to stop the spread of fentanyl proliferated by Hunter and others," said U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming in a news release.
"This sentencing is good news for anyone who seeks justice for the many overdose deaths fentanyl is causing in St. Louis," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Colin Dickey, supervisor of DEA operations in eastern Missouri in a release. "Hunter and his associates are no longer a threat to St. Louis, but our job continues. Drug traffickers should heed the message we delivered to Hunter. DEA and our law enforcement partners will be relentless in dismantling and destroying the drug networks that cause harm to our communities."
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