Chesco Drug Dealer Had Fentanyl Pills Disguised As Oxycodone, Say Feds

A Chester County drug dealer will face jailtime after prosecutors say he bought hundreds of fake prescription pills filled with fentanyl.

Ryan Malvern, 37, of Malvern, was convicted in a scheme to sell fentanyl pills that had been disguised as legitimate prescription Oxycodone, say federal prosecutors.
Photo Credit: *Unsplash/James Yarema*

Mac Bullock

11/15/2022 3:56 p.m.

Ryan Menkins, 37, of Malvern, pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday, Nov. 14, said US Attorney Jacqueline Romero in a statement.

In May 2018, Menkins bought 900 pills of cyclopropyl fentanyl — a "dangerous fentanyl analogue" and Schedule I drug, say investigators — for $5,600 from Kevin Swing of West Chester, according to the statement.

The pills were imprinted with a mark reading "ETH 446," which is commonly found on legitimate, prescription Oxycodone Hydrochloride 30 mg pills, prosecutors wrote.

Swing was previously convicted in connection with the pills in January 2020, and was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison, authorities said.

“Prescription medication like oxycodone is already vulnerable to misuse and abuse, but when a substance as dangerous as fentanyl is made to appear to be prescription medication, it can have catastrophic consequences,” Romero said.

“Fentanyl is killing Americans every day, and Menkins significantly contributed to this epidemic in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.”

Menkins is currently held at FDC Philadelphia awaiting sentencing, federal Bureau of Prisons records show.

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