Washington County fentanyl dealer gets 10 years in prison

A Washington County man caught selling fentanyl to a police informant will spend 10 years behind bars, federal prosecutors said Friday.

Romone Barnes, 34, of the city of Washington pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing large quantities of fentanyl in Western Pennsylvania during summer 2017, U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said.

The charges stemmed from a September 2018 indictment by a grand jury in Pittsburgh.

RELATED: Pittsburgh federal grand jury indicts 2 men in separate fentanyl sales accusations

The state police and Washington County District Attorney’s Drug Task Force targeted Barnes as part of an investigation into sales of fentanyl in the region.

On June 26, 2017, Barnes sold to an informant working on behalf of investigators five “bricks” of fentanyl — enough for more than 400 doses, Brady said.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid painkiller that can be 50 to 100 times stronger than heroin, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. As little as 2 or 3 nanograms of fentanyl per milliliter of blood can be deadly.

When officers arrived to arrest Barnes three months later, they seized 10 grams of methoxyacetyl fentanyl, a fentanyl analog.

Barnes also was charged with possessing a .380-caliber Ruger semi-automatic pistol and ammunition despite, as a felon, being prohibited from having a gun. Barnes had several prior felony drug convictions.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerome A. Moschetta prosecuted the case with help from state police, the Washington County DA, the FBI and the Western District of Pennsylvania Opioid Task Force.

The case was brought about as part of “Operation S.O.S.,” short for “synthetic opioid surge,” a Department of Justice initiative that teams up local, state and federal law enforcement to “dismantle deadly fentanyl distribution networks.”

The Western District of Pennsylvania is one of 10 federal courts in the nation to participate in the Operation S.O.S. program.

In Allegheny County, drug overdoses killed 564 people last year, up from 492 in 2018.

Fentanyl was found in 77% of overdose victims.

Westmoreland County showed a decline in drug overdose deaths for the second consecutive year. Coroner Ken Bacha told the Trib in July that he was pleased that the number of drug overdose deaths continued to drop in 2019, with 115 deaths recorded compared to 122 in 2018. In 2017, the county had 193 deaths.

Michael A. Christman, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, told the Tribune-Review in August that his team of drug trafficking investigators have been seeing less heroin in the Southwestern Pennsylvania region but more fentanyl.

RELATED: More than 560 people died of overdoses in Allegheny County in 2019