MIAMI — Federal judges sentenced two Florida men to a combined 26 years and three months in prison for trafficking fentanyl, with one defendant caught attempting to receive 15,000 counterfeit pills through the mail and the other selling fentanyl and methamphetamine to an undercover DEA task force officer.
U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon sentenced Juneem Jermain Barnes, 34, of Port St. Lucie to 180 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to attempting to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Law enforcement seized approximately 2,000 grams of fentanyl, more than $35,000 in cash, a Glock Model 19X 9mm handgun, three pounds of marijuana, and a money counting machine from Barnes’s home.
“Fentanyl is killing Americans every day, and those who distribute it are fueling that crisis for profit,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “This defendant trafficked thousands of counterfeit pills designed to look like legitimate prescription medication and kept a loaded firearm alongside drug proceeds and distribution tools. That combination of fentanyl and firearms is a direct threat to public safety. In South Florida, if you poison our communities for profit, you will be prosecuted and sent to federal prison.”
The pills Barnes attempted to receive were pressed to resemble pharmaceutical oxycodone. The investigation was led by Special Agent in Charge Miles Aley of the DEA Miami Field Division and Inspector in Charge Bladismir Rojo of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Miami Division, with assistance from the FBI, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, Palm Beach Gardens Police Department, and Jupiter Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel E. Funk prosecuted the case.
Separately, U.S. District Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger sentenced James Herbert Asberry, III, 39, of Jacksonville to 11 years and three months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine. The court also ordered forfeiture of $18,938 in drug proceeds seized at the time of his arrest. Asberry pleaded guilty on July 17, 2024.
During a series of meetings in late 2023 and early 2024, Asberry sold fentanyl and methamphetamine to a DEA undercover task force officer and confidential source, according to court documents. On February 23, 2024, the DEA arrested Asberry and executed search warrants at his home in St. Johns County and at a Jacksonville apartment where he stored drugs. Investigators located $18,938 in cash, cocaine, fentanyl, and nearly two kilograms of methamphetamine. The case was investigated by the DEA and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Coolican, with forfeiture handled by Assistant United States Attorney Nicole M. Andrejko. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the sentence.
Both cases fall under Operation Take Back America, a Department of Justice initiative that marshals resources from the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhoods to target drug trafficking and violent crime nationwide.