A Centralia man has been sentenced to 17 years in federal prison after he admitted to distributing pounds of methamphetamine and fentanyl.
The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Illinois reports 54-year-old Jackie Scanlan pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances: meth and fentanyl and one count of possession with intent to distribute meth.
Law enforcement began investigating Scanlan for distributing meth and fentanyl from a motel room in February 2024. Initially, agents recovered 79 grams of meth, 24 fentanyl capsules and two scales in a traffic stop of Scanlan’s vehicle.
In March 2024, Scanlan admitted to driving from Centralia to St. Louis to purchase at least a pound of meth and more fentanyl capsules. In a subsequent traffic stop, law enforcement recovered 232 grams of meth and another bag of fentanyl capsules.
Under federal sentencing guidelines, Scanlan qualified as a “career offender” for amassing several previous drug trafficking and other felony convictions, meaning he was eligible for a longer prison sentence.
