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Miguel Nuñez, 50, and another man were surrounded by Drug Enforcement Administration agents during what they thought would be a fentanyl deal in March 2021, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.
Nuñez put their vehicle in reverse in an attempt to escape and collided with an agent's car instead, the U.S. attorney said.
Nuñez's partner, Jesus Higuera-Parra, 28, of Ontario, CA, took a deal from the government -- pleading guilty to possessing fentanyl for sale -- rather than risk the outcome of a trial. He's awaiting sentencing.
Nuñez followed suit, pleading guilty in federal court in Newark last September to the same drug charge in addition to resisting arrest with a deadly weapon.
Nuñez must serve 85% of his plea-bargained 70-month sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system.
In addition, U.S. District Judge Julien X. Neals sentenced him to four years of supervised release.
Sellinger credited DEA special agents and task force officers with the investigation leading to the plea and sentence, 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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