A drug distributor from the Portland area was sentenced to federal prison for distributing counterfeit fentanyl pills that led to the death of a Hillsboro, Oregon man. Portland resident David Weaver, age 40, was sentenced to 150 months in federal incarceration and 5 years of supervised release.
According to court documents, a 25-year-old man was discovered dead in his parents’ Hillsboro residence on February 3, 2021, after consuming a counterfeit Oxycodone pill containing fentanyl. In less than three weeks, law enforcement uncovered a four-person drug distribution network whose illegal activities led to the murder of the young man.
Investigators determined that Weaver purchased the lethal counterfeit tablets from a drug smuggler who transported them from California to Oregon. Weaver resold the pills to others, including those who furnished the Hillsboro overdose victim with the pills.
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On February 18, 2021, investigators arranged to purchase 100 fentanyl pills from Weaver, whom they arrested en route to a meeting location, using a seized mobile phone. A search of Weaver’s car and home yielded over 900 fentanyl tablets, about three and a half pounds of methamphetamine, two pounds of heroin, a 9mm handgun, a shotgun with an erased serial number, and $22,483 in cash.
Five days later, on February 23, 2021, as he was departing a Portland hotel, investigators located and arrested Weaver’s supplier, Gerardo Corrales-Aragon, 30, whose place of origin is unknown.
On March 16, 2021, a federal grand jury in Portland returned a 13-count indictment charging Weaver, Corrales-Aragon, and three others with conspiring to possess fentanyl with the intent to distribute it and commit other crimes.
Weaver pled guilty to possession with purpose to distribute methamphetamine on August 31, 2022. As part of his plea deal, Weaver consented to a sentencing enhancement based on the fact that his distribution of fentanyl caused the death of the Hillsboro victim.
Corrales-Aragon pled guilty to possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute on March 6, 2023, and consented to the same sentencing enhancement as Weaver. Corrales-Aragon was sentenced to 150 months in federal incarceration and five years of supervised release on June 9, 2023.
With assistance from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Portland Police Bureau, Washington County Sheriff’s Office, and Hillsboro Police Department investigated this case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon prosecuted the case.
