NH Fentanyl Trafficker Gets 10 Years In Prison

CONCORD, NH — A New Hampshire fentanyl trafficker was sentenced to 10 years in prison this week. Derick Jennings, 48, of Manchester, was convicted of multiple drug charges in U.S. District Court in Concord, U.S. Attorney Scott Murray said Tuesday. Jennings was also sentenced to 4 years supervised released.

Jennings was arrested in 2016 after police said he worked with drug runners to distribute hundreds of grams of fentanyl across the state. Jennings was arrested after one of his dealers sold to an undercover informant working with Rochester police. Police said Jennings stash house was his Manchester apartment.

"We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to target, prosecute and deter the drug traffickers who distribute this deadly drug in the Granite State," Murray said in a statement.

Murray said prosecutors are focusing on opioid dealers like Jennings amid the country's opioid epidemic.

Last week, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions visited New Hampshire and announced Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge, a law enforcement program targeting opioid dealers in New Hampshire and nine other regions across the country.

"I am ordering our prosecutors in 10 districts with some of the highest overdose death rates — including this one — to systematically and relentlessly prosecute every synthetic opioid case," Sessions said. "We can weaken these networks, reduce fentanyl availability, and save lives. We are going to arrest, prosecute, and convict fentanyl dealers and we are going to put them in jail. When it comes to synthetic opioids, there is no such thing as a small case."

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