A Detroit, Michigan opioid dealer has been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Bismarck to 10 years in federal prison on drug and gun charges.
Jorge Pitts, 30, was sentenced for possession with intent to distribute oxycodone and posession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
In addition to the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland also sentenced Pitts to 3 years supervised release and a $200 Special Assessment.
It all stems from a January 25, 2018 incident in New Town.
At that time, Pitts was stopped for a traffic violation in the community. During the stop, police thought his behavior was suspicious, so they deployed a drug detection canine.
The dog detected drugs in Pitts’ vehicle.
During a subsequent search of the vehicle, officers found 1,650 oxycodone 30-mg pills separated in multiple plastic baggies hidden inside the driver’s side door panel.
In this same area of the vehicle, police also located a loaded Sig Sauer .40 caliber pistol with a 12-round magazine and 13 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition.
Pitts later pleaded guilty and admitted traveling to the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation from Michigan on multiple occasions starting around 2016 to bring between 800 and 1,000 oxycodone 30-mg pills for distribution in the community each trip.
Pitts already had two previous weapons convictions against him, both of which made it illegal for him to carry a firearm or ammunition.
“Pitts was carrying illegal opioids with a street value of $130,000, and was bringing $70,000 in pills every time he trafficked this poison from Detroit to North Dakota,” said United States Attorney Drew Wrigley.
The case was investigated by the Mandan Hidatsa & Arikara Division of Drug Enforcement; the New Town Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations.
