FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) — A Fayetteville man has pleaded guilty to making counterfeit oxycodone pills mixed with fentanyl from his home.
Lewis R. Chafin, Jr., 27, pleaded guilty Tuesday (Sept. 25) in U.S. District Court to one count of possessing a tableting or encapsulating machine with the intent to manufacture fentanyl.
Chafin, who is free on a $3,500 bond, faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. His sentencing hearing hasn’t been set.
Police arrested Chafin in April after an informant tipped off the 4th Judicial Drug Task Force that Chafin was using a pill press to mix fentanyl and oxycodone, according to court documents.
Investigators searched Chafin’s house on Pepper Tree Lane, where they found the pill press and other equipment, along with small amounts of fentanyl, oxycodone, morphine, zolpidem, alprazolam, and heroin residue.
Illegal raw fentanyl powder can be 50 times more potent than heroin and is often mixed with other street drugs, according to the Associated Press.
Even a minute amount of the most potent drugs, such as fentanyl, can cause violent illness or death, the AP reported.
The 4th Judicial Task Force consists of investigators from police agencies in Fayetteville, Springdale, Prairie Grove, Lincoln, Farmington, West Fork, Greenland, Johnson, Tontitown, Elkins, and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
Chaired by Fayetteville Police Chief Greg Tabor, the task force provides initial and follow-up investigation work concerning drug-related crimes.
