Date: June 2, 2023 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov AKRON — Devonn Fair of Cleveland, Ohio, was sentenced on Thursday, June 1, 2023, to 420 months or 35 years in prison by U.S. District Judge John R. Adams after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, money laundering, and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. According to court documents, Fair was one of the leaders of a large-scale fentanyl trafficking organization that operated on the east side of Cleveland from September of 2019 to February of 2022. The Fair drug trafficking organization distributed fentanyl at several residences throughout the east side of Cleveland which drew customers from as far away as Medina, Wayne, and Lorain Counties. Fair and his organization profited from their crimes and laundered those profits with the purchase of expensive clothing, jewelry, and vehicles. In addition, Fair was prohibited under federal law from possessing a firearm due to previous felony convictions. Fair was ordered to forfeit the unlawful proceeds of his crimes which included jewelry, $68,922 in U.S. Currency, and three vehicles. The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Cartel, Gang, Narcotics, and Laundering Task Force (CGNL) with assistance from the Cleveland Division of Police, the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office, the Ohio Investigative Unit, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Cleveland Heights Police Department, the Southeast Area Law Enforcement Task Force (SEALE), the ATF, the U.S. Marshal's Service, the DEA, and the Cuyahoga County Regional Forensic Science Laboratory. This case was prosecuted as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) national program. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys James Lewis and Joseph Dangelo.
