Miguel Nuñez, 50, pleaded guilty to fentanyl possession and resisting arrest with a deadly weapon during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Newark on Tuesday, Sept. 11, federal authorities said.
Nuñez and Jesus Higuera-Parra, 28, of Ontario, California, drove from New York City to Elizabeth to sell the deadly drug on March 24, 2021, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.
The duo were met by Drug Enforcement Administration agents, prompting Nuñez to throw their vehicle into reverse, the U.S. attorney said.
The vehicle hit a DEA car, he said.
Higuera-Parra took a deal from federal prosecutors first and is awaiting sentencing on his guilty plea to possessing fentanyl for sale, Sellinger said.
U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty approved Nuñez's agreement with the government, as well, and scheduled sentencing for Jan. 23, 2023.
Nuñez will have to serve just about all of the sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. He remains in federal custody.
Sellinger credited DEA special agents and task force officers with the investigation leading to the plea, secured by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ray Mateo of his Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Unit and Benjamin Levin of the National Security Unit.
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