A Medford man has been sentenced to 6-1/2 years in federal prison for distributing fentanyl that caused the overdose death of a local teenager.
The US Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon reports 31-year-old John Rocha was sentenced this week to 78 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release.
According to court documents, officers from the Medford Police Department on September 7, 2021, responded to a report of an overdose death of a 17-year-old high school student. Investigators soon learned that the teenager had taken counterfeit Percocet pills containing fentanyl.
Within days, investigators identified Rocha as the victim's fourth-level drug supplier and -- when confronted by law enforcement -- he admitted to having recently sold counterfeit pills.
On February 3, 2022, a federal grand jury in Medford returned a five-count indictment charging Rocha and four others with Distributing Fentanyl, Possessing with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl and Possessing a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime. On February 20th of this year, Rocha pleaded guilty to Distributing Fentanyl.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement (MADGE) Team. MADGE is a multi-jurisdictional narcotics task force that identifies, disrupts and dismantles drug trafficking organizations using an intelligence-driven and prosecutor-supported approach.
