A Crafton Heights man was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to serve seven years in prison on a drug offense, according to prosecutors.
William Jamar Saunders, 31, was sentenced to serve six years of probation after the prison term. He pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl, according to court records.
Saunders became a target of agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and Federal Bureau of Investigation after a fatal drug overdose on June 13, 2018, in Canonsburg, according to prosecutors. Investigators said they used a confidential informant to buy drugs from him for $80 in August 2018, according to a criminal complaint.
A couple weeks later, authorities served a search warrant at his home and seized drugs, a scale and empty stamp bags marked “Super Mario.” That stamp had been linked to numerous drug overdoses in Allegheny, Beaver and Washington counties at the time, investigators said. Past chemical analysis of the bags showed that it contained heroin and fentanyl, according to the complaint.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid more powerful than heroin, has contributed to an explosion of drug overdose deaths in the region for several years.
Fentanyl has been the top contributor to drug overdose deaths in Allegheny County since 2016, according to medical examiner statistics. From 2016 to 2020, fentanyl contributed to 2,306 deaths there. Preliminary figures for 2021 show fentanyl contributed to 125 drug overdose deaths in Allegheny County.
Saunders was ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution for funeral expenses.
