Acting United States Attorney Julie A. Beck announced that Melvin Lamar Triplett, 43, of Detroit, was sentenced to 23 years in prison for drug conspiracy and delivering drugs causing death and serious bodily injury.
Following a two-week trial in September 2024, a jury found Triplett guilty of distributing crack cocaine and fentanyl, resulting in the overdose deaths of two individuals and a third non-fatal overdose.
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He also was convicted of a multi-month drug trafficking conspiracy, leading up to the distributions that resulted in the charged overdoses.
Evidence at trial showed that Triplett was the leader of a drug trafficking operation that sold to an established customer base.
In November 2022, Triplett distributed fentanyl-laced crack cocaine that caused multiple overdoses.
DEA investigators traced the lethal drugs back to Triplett, a previously convicted drug dealer.