Felix Becerra-Aguilera, 40, of Stockton, California, was sentenced to 45 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl.

According to court documents, on September 13, 2021, an Indiana State Police trooper was conducting a patrol on I-70 near Greenfield in Hancock County. The state trooper conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle for following too closely.  It was being driven by Felix Becerra-Aguilera who was identified by his California driver’s license. Becerra-Aguilera gave the state trooper written consent to search his vehicle. 

During the search of the vehicle, officers found multiple wrapped packages containing Oxycodone Hydrochloride pills in the hollowed-out seat cushions. Officers also found fentanyl pills and two-kilogram bricks of fentanyl in the seatbacks of the front seats. Approximately eight and a half kilograms of fentanyl were seized from inside the vehicle during the traffic stop. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, as little as 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be fatal, depending on a person’s body size, tolerance, and past usage. One kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people.  

Becerra-Aguilera admitted to the state troopers that he was being paid to drive the narcotics to Philadelphia. Officers found $2,000 in U.S. currency inside Becerra-Aguilera’s bag inside the vehicle.

Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case in conjunction with the Indiana State Police. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Chief Judge Tanya Walton Pratt. As part of the sentence, Judge Pratt ordered that Beccera-Aguilera be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for two years following his release from federal prison.