Former Donora man sentenced to federal prison for fentanyl shipments from China

A former Donora man was sentenced Tuesday to four months in a federal prison for conspiring to have fentanyl shipped from China into the United States and a weapons violation, according to court records.

Christian B. Drennan, 28, now of St. Clairsville, Ohio, was ordered to spend three years on supervised release after his prison term. The first six months of his supervised release will be spent on home detention.

Drennan pleaded guilty in June. As part of the plea, Drennan agreed to forfeit 16 guns, ammunition and items involved with growing marijuana, according to court records.

He had been dependent upon opioids since at least 2010 after experiencing pain from back and shoulder injuries, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by his attorney. When a new doctor refused to prescribe him opioids at the level he had previously been taking, Drennan turned to illegally obtaining fentanyl, his attorney said.

“He is making positive strides and has committed himself to a sober, law-abiding life,” attorney Michael DeRiso said in court filings.

Drennan and a woman were arrested Sept. 6, 2018 in a Rostraver Township grocery store parking lot during a traffic stop after the pair picked up a controlled delivery of 19 grams of fentanyl, state police said at the time.

Fentanyl is a powerful opioid painkiller. It can be illicitly produced overseas and then shipped into the United States where it has contributed to an explosion of drug overdose deaths in recent years.

Fentanyl contributed to 875 drug overdose deaths in Allegheny County and 230 deaths in Westmoreland County in 2017 and 2018, according to medical examiner and coroner statistics.