10 years for fentanyl pill-making operation, driving car toward federal agents

Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Operating Fentanyl and Methamphetamine Pill-Making Operation

A man accused of operating a major fentanyl and methamphetamine pill-making operation and attempting to run over a federal agent during a search warrant raid has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. His alleged accomplice received a four-year term.

In May 2023, Allen Dean, 32, was charged with receiving an industrial-sized pill press from China that could form the fake drugs and possessing nearly $1.2 million worth of pills and drug powder that were found inside an apartment in Chicago. Dean was also charged with stealing a car and driving it toward federal agents who tried to arrest him.

Lavonte Powell, 33, was charged with assisting Dean in the operation.

The investigation began in February 2023, when U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents intercepted a pill press and a motor in separate shipments from China destined for a Chicago address. Authorities believe the parts were shipped separately to avoid Drug Enforcement Administration registration requirements for complete pill presses.

Agents placed GPS trackers on the machine parts, which were allegedly addressed to Dean, who later moved them to an apartment associated with Powell, according to charging documents. Prosecutors described the press as a “substantial piece of machinery” that used intense pressure to form powders into pills mimicking legitimate prescription medications.

Surveillance showed Dean and Powell entering or leaving the apartment together at least twice in March 2023, including once at 3:06 a.m., prosecutors said. Powell also visited the apartment alone several times that month.

Federal agents executed a search warrant at the apartment after the second machine part arrived. As they did, Dean arrived in a car and drove onto a sidewalk to avoid the agents. Once the feds blocked him in, he ran and climbed into a “gated facility,” where he stole a security guard’s vehicle, crashed through the facility’s gate, drove toward the agents, and sped away, prosecutors claimed. Police later found the car abandoned in Chicago, and they eventually caught up with Dean as well.

The apartment, furnished only with a mattress, appeared to function as a clandestine lab, prosecutors said. The DEA recovered both press parts, a second fully operational press, and 5,460 tablets containing fentanyl and methamphetamine, imprinted to resemble Percocet and oxycodone. Hazmat and chemical suits were also found. Those pills and loose fentanyl and methamphetamine powder inside the apartment had a street value of $1,197,735, prosecutors claimed shortly after the raid.

A second search warrant at Powell’s home allegedly uncovered a money counter and the deed to the apartment where the lab allegedly operated.

Dean has now pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manufacturing and delivering 15 to 100 grams of fentanyl and vehicular assault of a peace officer. Judge Ursula Walowski sentenced him to 10 years for the drug charge and a concurrent three years for the assault. He will receive credit for 735 days of time served while awaiting trial. His parole date has not been released.

Powell pleaded guilty to manufacturing and delivering 1 to 15 grams of fentanyl, reduced from over 900 grams. Walowski sentenced him to four years, and after credit for time on an ankle monitor, he is expected to be paroled on June 6.