Phoenix drug dealer sentenced to 19.5 years in prison for selling fentanyl that killed Mesa County inmate

On November 9, 2024By Pranco

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) – A Phoenix drug dealer who sold fentanyl, resulting in the death of a Mesa County inmate, was sentenced Thursday.

After serving his sentence, 44-year-old Jeremiah Robinson was sentenced to 19.5 years in prison and four years of supervision.

Robinson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl.

Robinson was a longtime drug dealer and six-time convicted felon who operated in Phoenix. Before May 2022, Robinson had sold drugs multiple times to Efrain Velez, a Mesa County drug dealer.

“Jeremiah Robinson valued the profits from his drug trafficking business above the lives of his customers,” said Matt Kirsch, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Colorado. “No matter where you operate, if you sell medications coming into Colorado, our office will find you and hold you accountable.”

On May 7, 2022, Robinson sold bulk fentanyl and methamphetamine to Velez and two associates, Vanessa Vasquez and Anna Munday, in Phoenix.

Law enforcement officers stopped their vehicle and discovered the drugs on the way back to Mesa County. During the traffic stop, Velez and Vasquez hid drugs on their bodies and smuggled them into the Mesa County Detention Facility.

Once inside the prison, Munday and Vasquez distributed the drugs to the inmates. On May 20, 2022, Karlie Locke gave one of the pills sold by Robinson to another inmate, who died of fentanyl poisoning.