St. Pete Man Sentenced For Sex, Drug Charges: U.S. DOJ

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — A St. Petersburg man was sentenced to life in prison for multiple drug-related charges, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Joseph Marion, 41, was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and crack cocaine; distributing fentanyl; distributing a mixture of fentanyl and heroin that resulted in serious bodily injury; and possessing fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and crack cocaine with the intent to distribute it.

As part of his sentence, the court also ordered Marion to forfeit the $13,190 that was recovered from his pocket at the time of his arrest, which represented proceeds from his crimes, the DOJ said.

Marion imported fentanyl and fentanyl analogues from China via the U.S. mail, the department said. He blended and packaged the fentanyl himself and then sold fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and crack cocaine to multiple street dealers.

During the trial, one of those street dealers testified that she bought 40 to 100 bags of fentanyl from Marion each day, every day, for several years. Marion sold between 7.1 and 17.8 kilograms of fentanyl, enough to kill over 70,000 people, to just this one street dealer, the DOJ said.

In November 2019, a woman who was with Marion in his apartment snorted his fentanyl, thinking it was heroin, and nearly died. Paramedics arrived at the apartment and saved her life, though she was hospitalized for days afterward.

In addition to importing and selling drugs, he also trafficked women for sex. He often recruited women who were addicted to his drugs and then advertised and “managed” them as prostitutes, according to the DOJ.