FLORIDA—A Pinellas drug dealer has been sentenced to federal prison for selling fentanyl linked to fatal overdoses.
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U.S. District Judge William F. Jung has sentenced Corey Gaddy, 31, of St. Petersburg, to 18 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, including fentanyl, and two counts of distribution of fentanyl. Gaddy was found guilty following a trial on November 3, 2023.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida (USAO), Shawn Rodriguez, a co-conspirator, was sentenced on February 7, 2024, to 12 years and seven months in prison.
According to testimony, the evidence presented at trial, and court records, Mr. Gaddy has been a supplier of opioids in Pinellas County since 2017. Reportedly, Mr Rodriguez was, at various times during the conspiracy, a distributor of opioids in the Madeira Beach area.
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In February 2019, the Largo Police Department conducted a traffic stop of Gaddy and reportedly discovered heroin concealed in his pants. While on bond for that offense, Mr Gaddy is said to have distributed fentanyl to Rodriguez on November 6, 2019, who then reportedly supplied the same to K.E.
In the early morning hours of the next day, K.E. died of fentanyl toxicity. Mr Gaddy learned that K.E. had died but reportedly continued distributing opioids.
According to court documents, in April 2020, while still on bond for his pending state case, Gaddy again distributed opioids to J.P. and another person. Two days later, J.P. was found dead on a fishing boat.
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This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, and the Largo Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Dan Baeza and Lauren Stoia are prosecuting it.
