GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) – A Phoenix drug dealer who sold fentanyl, resulting in the death of a Mesa County Jail inmate, was sentenced Thursday.

Jeremiah Robinson, 44, was sentenced to 19 and a half years in prison and four years of post-sentence supervision.

Robinson pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl.

Robinson was a long-time drug dealer and six-time convicted felon who operated in Phoenix. Prior to May 2022, Robinson had sold drugs to Efrain Velez, a Mesa County drug dealer, on multiple occasions.

“Jeremiah Robinson valued the profits of his drug trafficking over the lives of his clients,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Matt Kirsch. “Wherever you operate, if you sell drugs that come into Colorado, our office will find you and hold you accountable.”

On May 7, 2022, Robinson sold bulk fentanyl and methamphetamine to Velez and two associates, Vanessa Vasquez and Anna Munday, in Phoenix.

Authorities stopped his vehicle and discovered the drugs on his way back to Mesa County. During the traffic stop, Velez and Vasquez hid drugs on their persons and smuggled them into the Mesa County Detention Center.

Once inside the jail, Munday and Vásquez distributed the drugs to the inmates. On May 20, 2022, Karlie Locke gave one of the pills – sold by Robinson – to another inmate, who died of fentanyl poisoning.

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