EVANSVILLE— Two men have been sentenced to a combined 16 years in federal prison for their roles in a drug trafficking operation responsible for pumping thousands of counterfeit fentanyl pills from Arizona into Evansville.
Deriontai Mathis, 31, of Evansville, has been sentenced to 11 years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.
Ernest Gilbert, 38, of Arizona, was sentenced in July of 2024 to five years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to distribution of fentanyl and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl.
According to court documents, between September and November of 2022, Mathis and Gilbert conspired to buy and sell thousands of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills. Gilbert, who resided in Arizona, would obtain the pills, ship, or otherwise transport them to Indiana, and then fly to Indiana and drive the pills to Mathis in Evansville…