A man found with 90 grams of fentanyl, the deadly narcotic at the heart of the region’s opioid epidemic, will spend up to 12 years in a state prison.
During a sentencing hearing Friday, Toure Parker, 36, received a three- to six-year sentence for charges filed after a November raid in West Scranton. His arrest on those counts violated the conditions of his probation from a 2013 drug case, so Lackawanna County President Judge Michael J. Barrasse tacked on an additional two to six years.
In total, Parker faces five to 12 years in state prison.
Scranton police arrested Parker, of 612 Oak St., Old Forge, on Nov. 13 after numerous neighborhood complaints of drug activity at 831 N. Rebecca Ave., the address of a codefendant, Richard Johns. Officers seized a large amount of drugs , including 90 grams of fentanyl, an opioid whose potency is several times that of heroin. In the illegal drug market, fentanyl is sometimes mixed with heroin or is consumed in pure form. Either way greatly increases the chance of a lethal overdose.
After the sentencing, District Attorney Mark Powell remarked how deadly fentanyl is and said Parker has earned every day of his prison term.
“We’re certainly going to take all offenses seriously but fentanyl kills,” Powell said.
For the 2017 arrest, Parker pleaded guilty on Aug. 8 to one felony count of possession with intent to deliver.
Johns, 61, pleaded guilty to two drug offenses on Aug. 15. He remains at the Lackawanna County Prison awaiting sentencing.
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