Man Sentenced to 16 Years, Woman Sentenced to 6 Years for Trafficking Fentanyl, Other Controlled Substances in Norfolk Following Joint State-Federal Prosecution
NORFOLK, Va. — Two Norfolk residents have been sentenced in U.S. District Court for possessing with the intent to distribute nearly two kilograms of fentanyl and other controlled substances. Daniel S. Beecher, 32, was sentenced today to serve 16 years in federal prison, and Janice M. Rockwell, 28, was sentenced last Friday to serve six years.
This case was investigated and prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods program, a Department of Justice violent-crime reduction initiative involving partnership between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. As part of that program, Norfolk Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Graham M. Stolle has been cross-designated since August 2021 as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia U.S. District Court, where he prosecutes drug and violent crime cases connected to the City of Norfolk.
Between November 2022 and July 2023, Mr. Beecher and Ms. Rockwell conducted a drug trafficking operation in which Mr. Beecher collected wholesale quantities of fentanyl every two weeks from their source of supply and Ms. Rockwell further distributed the fentanyl to people they knew to have substance use disorder.
From May to July 2023, investigators conducted four controlled buys of fentanyl from Ms. Rockwell. On July 27, investigators executed a search warrant for Ms. Rockwell and Mr. Beecher’s shared residence and recovered 68 grams of a mixture containing para-fluorofentanyl and fentanyl (both synthetic opioids), 77 tablets containing methamphetamine or amphetamine, 14 grams of crystalline methamphetamine, 45 grams of psilocyn, more than $6,000 in cash, and drug packaging and distribution materials.
On Jan. 3, 2024, Mr. Beecher and Ms. Rockwell both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic drugs and one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. Senior U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney Jr. sentenced both co-defendants.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Stolle and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin M. Comstock prosecuted both cases, and the Washington, D.C., bureau of Homeland Security Investigations and the Norfolk Police Department led the investigation.
“Drug prosecution should focus not on users — who need diversion, treatment, and assistance — but on the dealers who sell the dangerous drugs that have fueled a national overdose crisis,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Norfolk is one of only two local prosecutors’ offices in the Eastern District of Virginia to employ a Special Assistant United States Attorney full time. By doing so, we leverage the power of the federal system to target dangerous and high-level perpetrators of drug and violent crimes. I express my appreciation to United States Attorney Jessica Aber and to our federal partners for their ongoing efforts to seek safety and justice.”
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