Cranston Man Sentenced In One Of RI's Biggest Ever Fentanyl Seizures

CRANSTON, RI — A Cranston man was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after being caught in one of Rhode Island's biggest fentanyl seizures, acting U.S. Attorney Sara Miron Bloom said Wednesday.

Jorge Pimentel, 36, known to law enforcement as "Big Head," was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty in December 2024, to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

Between May 31, 2023, and Sept. 29, 2023, Pimentel brokered sales of fake oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl and arranged for their delivery, prosecutors said. According to prosecutors, Pimentel was paid $37,000 in exchange for about 34,000 fentanyl-laced pills during FBI-monitored transactions.

Authorities arrested Pimentel on Sept. 29, 2023 after authorities searched a storage unit he rented in Pawtucket. Prosecutors said the storage unit contained 8,968 grams of fentanyl in powder form, 3405.1 grams of fentanyl in pill form (19,315 pills), and a high-speed pill press, among other items.

The pills sold by Pimentel and those located inside the storage unit were counterfeit Oxycodone containing fentanyl and were marketed as such to resemble a legitimately manufactured drug, prosecutors said.

Following his prison sentence, Pimentel must serve five years of federal probation.

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