Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that AMID MAGERRAMOV was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiring to import massive quantities of carfentanil and fentanyl into the United States. MAGERRAMOV pled guilty on May 4, 2021, before U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken, who imposed today’s sentence.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated: “Amid Magerramov conspired to import into the U.S. large quantities of fentanyl and carfentanil – an opioid so potent that its legitimate use is as an elephant sedative. Appropriately, he has now been sentenced to prison for conspiring to add fuel to the fire that is the opioid crisis in this country.”
According to the Complaint, Indictment, and other filings in the case:
Between approximately October 2017 and August 2018, MAGERRAMOV conspired to import large quantities of carfentanil and fentanyl into the United States. Carfentanil is a fentanyl analogue approximately 1,000 times more potent than heroin, and is used commercially to sedate large animals such as elephants. During that period, MAGERRAMOV participated in a series of recorded meetings and telephone communications with an individual he understood to be affiliated with an international drug trafficking organization, for the purpose of arranging to import narcotics into the United States. That individual was, in fact, a confidential source (the “CS”) working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”). MAGERRAMOV and his co-conspirators prepared and distributed a total of over five kilograms of substances containing carfentanil for importation into the United States.
In mid-October 2017, MAGERRAMOV met together with the CS in Estonia. During the meeting, the CS informed MAGERRAMOV that the CS was a member of a Colombian drug cartel that distributed narcotics in the United States and laundered the resulting proceeds.
Throughout late 2017 and early 2018, the CS also participated in a series of meetings with MAGERRAMOV and his co-conspirators to discuss narcotics transactions. During the meetings, MAGERRAMOV agreed to provide the CS with fentanyl in Denmark, with the understanding that the fentanyl would be transported to the United States, mixed with heroin and other controlled substances, and sold to the cartel’s customers in New York City, among other places.
In May 2018, MAGERRAMOV coordinated the delivery of samples of carfentanil to the CS in Denmark. On May 9, 2018, MAGERRAMOV and his co-conspirators delivered three samples of narcotics to an agreed-upon location in Denmark. The three samples were seized by law enforcement, tested in a laboratory, and found to contain approximately 550 grams of mixtures and substances containing carfentanil. The CS later informed MAGERRAMOV that the three samples had been transported to the United States, that the purported cartel was satisfied with the quality of the narcotics, and that the CS wanted to purchase additional carfentanil from MAGERRAMOV and his associates.
In late May 2018, MAGERRAMOV arranged to have additional carfentanil delivered to the CS for importation into the United States. On May 30, 2018, one of MAGERRAMOV’s co-conspirators delivered a package of narcotics to an agreed-upon location in Denmark. The package was seized by law enforcement, tested in a laboratory, and found to contain approximately 5.2 kilograms of mixtures and substances containing carfentanil. The CS subsequently reported to MAGERRAMOV that the carfentanil had been transported to the United States.
During June and July 2018, the CS continued to meet and communicate with MAGERRAMOV about arranging additional narcotics transactions in the future and payment for the carfentanil that had been delivered.
MAGERRAMOV, 40, of Estonia, pled guilty to one count of conspiring to import fentanyl and carfentanil into the United States. In addition to the prison term, MAGERRAMOV was ordered to forfeit $38,500.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding efforts of the DEA’s Special Operations Division, the DEA’s Country Office in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Estonia Central Criminal Police, the Estonia Office of the Prosecutor General, and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.
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