Phoenix drug dealer sentenced to 19.5 years in prison for selling fentanyl that killed a Mesa County inmate

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

After completing his sentence, 44-year-old Jeremiah Robinson was sentenced to 19 1/2 years in prison and four years of supervision.

Robinson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute over 40 grams of fentanyl.

Robinson was a longtime 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 from his drug trafficking business over the lives of his customers,” said Matt Kirsch, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Colorado. “Wherever you operate, if you sell drugs that end up in Colorado, our office will find you and hold you accountable.”

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

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

At the prison, Munday and Vasquez distributed the drugs to inmates. On May 20, 2022, Karlie Locke gave one of the pills Robinson sold to another inmate who died of fentanyl poisoning.

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