Feds Sentence Gaithersburg Man for Distributing Narcotics
A Gaithersburg man has been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison on drug charges, selling the potent addictive chemical fentanyl that led to at least one death, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Greenbelt.
Leandro Acevedo Lozada, 34, received 150 months in federal prison from U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm. At the conclusion of his sentence, he also will have five years of supervised release.
He was charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine and being a felon in possession of a firearm, the statement said.
According to his plea agreement, from at least January 2017 through February 2017, Lozada, aka “Dro,” conspired with Bradley Wade Seabolt and others to distribute fentanyl, heroin and cocaine through street-level drug dealers.
Although Lozada was not certain of the exact chemical compounds contained in opioids he sold to Seabolt and others, he knew that the substance was bright white in color and very strong. Because of those two features, Lozada suspected that it was fentanyl, the statement said.
Because the opioids he sold were so strong, Lozada used powdered sugar to dilute them, to both expand its volume, and thus his profit, as well as to make it safer for his customers, the statement said.
On Jan. 11, 2017, emergency medical personnel responded to Victim A’s home in Montgomery County, where they found Victim A unresponsive. Victim A had ingested a quantity of a substance containing both acetyl fentanyl and fentanyl distributed by Seabolt, who acquired it from Lozada, the statement said.
Victim A was taken by ambulance to Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, where the person was later pronounced dead.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Maryland determined that Victim A’s death resulted from fentanyl, acetyl fentanyl and cocaine intoxication.
On Feb. 17, 2017, law enforcement executed search warrants at homes in Damascus and Gaithersburg, where Lozada spent time during the course of this conspiracy and kept various property.
Collectively, officers seized about 147 grams of a substance that contained detectable amounts of both fentanyl and acetyl fentanyl; about 23 grams of cocaine; a bag of powdered sugar that Lozada used as a cutting agent for his opioids; $4,452 in cash; a digital scale that Lozada used to weigh and process his narcotics for sale; and a loaded handgun that belonged to Lozada.
The handgun was manufactured outside of Maryland, and therefore traveled in and affected interstate and foreign commerce prior to Lozada possessing this firearm on Feb. 17, 2017. Before February 17, 2017, Lozada had been convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment, which prohibited him from legally possessing the handgun and/or any ammunition.
Seabolt, 30, of Gaithersburg was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
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