25-Year Sentences for Fentanyl Traffickers

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody today secured lengthy prison sentences for two illicit fentanyl traffickers. A court found defendants Carlos Alberto Jiminez Rodriguez and Antonio Izquierdo guilty for trafficking fentanyl, a first-degree felony, and conspiracy to traffic in fentanyl, also a first-degree felony. Today, following arguments by Attorney General Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, Ninth Judicial Circuit Judge Keith Carsten sentenced Rodriguez and Izquierdo to 25-year prison sentences each.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “If you traffic fentanyl in Florida, you will go to prison for a long time. This synthetic opioid is killing tens of thousands of people across our nation every year, and here in Florida, we will prosecute anyone caught trafficking this deadly substance in our state to the fullest extent of the law. I am proud of my prosecutors for ensuring the traffickers in this case will be locked away for a very long time.”

According to a law enforcement investigation, a tip provided an undercover officer with a lead on a drug dealer named Carlito. After further investigation, the officer identified Carlito as Rodriguez. Rodriguez sold heroin to the undercover officer and eventually introduced the officer to the supplier, as well as to another fentanyl dealer, Izquierdo. The undercover officer conducted other interactions with Rodriguez and Izquierdo to gather enough evidence to present a thorough case in court. Rodriguez and Izquierdo both sold and delivered more than 28 grams of fentanyl.

Assistant Statewide Prosecutor David Gillespie prosecuted this case, and the Honorable Keith Carsten of the Ninth Judicial Circuit sentenced each of the defendants to 25-year prison sentences.