CHICAGO — 9/22/26 – A Chicago man has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl and other drugs from Arizona to Illinois.

In 2022 and 2023, ALONZO POWE arranged to receive numerous parcels of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine from various locations in Arizona.  The shipments were sent via U.S. Postal Service to Powe’s residence in the Wrightwood neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, as well as other Chicago-area addresses he controlled.  In exchange for the narcotics-laden parcels, Powe mailed large amounts of cash to individuals in Arizona.  Powe intended to distribute the narcotics to customers in and around the Chicago area.

Law enforcement conducted a court-authorized search of Powe’s residence in 2023 and discovered a Postal Service box containing fentanyl, as well as numerous other bundles and plastic bags containing fentanyl.  Powe’s residence contained further evidence of significant narcotics activity, including a detailed drug ledger listing customers’ names and prices.

Powe, 55, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal drug charge.  On Sept. 9, 2026, U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah sentenced Powe to 12 years in federal prison.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Nicholas Bucciarelli, Inspector-in-Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

“Defendant’s narcotics activity was extensive and took place over a long period of time,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan E. Donohue argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  “He did not only receive large shipments of narcotics, but processed, repackaged, and sold them to various customers over an extended period.”