Source: United States Department of Justice News
WASHINGTON – An arraignment was held today for Edward Steven Monge, 22, of Beltsville, Maryland, on charges connected to his alleged role in a fentanyl distribution conspiracy. Monge and his co-conspirator, Jennifer Echeverria Flores, 26, of Silver Spring, Maryland, are named in an indictment charging them with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl. Echeverria Flores is further charged with unlawful distribution of 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
According to the charging documents, on five different occasions between February 17, 2023 and July 19, 2023, Echeverria Flores — who allegedly used Monge as her source of supply — sold a total of approximately 4,500 pills containing fentanyl to undercover agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) in Washington, D.C. and Maryland. The pills are blue, marked “M” on one side, and “30” on the other side. DEA laboratory testing has confirmed that the pills contain fentanyl.
Echeverria Flores was arrested on July 31, 2023, and has been ordered held without bond pending trial. On August 3, 2023, law enforcement agents arrested Monge in Hyattsville, MD, pursuant to an outstanding arrest warrant for him from Fairfax County, VA. Upon a search of Monge, officers found approximately 1,102 pills on his person, which field tested positive for the presence of fentanyl. Monge was arrested on a federal arrest warrant on September 11, 2023.
The conspiracy charge carries a statutory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison. The distribution charge carries a statutory minimum sentence of five years in prison with a statutory maximum sentence of 40 years. The charges also carry potential financial penalties. The minimum and maximum statutory sentences for federal offenses are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes. The sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This case is being investigated by the DEA’s Washington Field Division and is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Javier Urbina and Jordan Leiter of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.