Columbia man pleads guilty to having hundreds of fentanyl pills
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
A 25-year-old Columbia man pleaded guilty Tuesday to having hundreds of fentanyl pills along with several guns.
Keaveon Z. T. Harris pleaded guilty in a federal courtroom in Jefferson City to possessing fentanyl -- a deadly synthetic opioid -- with intent to distribute the drug and one count of being a felon with a gun.
The U.S. attorney's office says in a news release that Harris admitted to having the drugs and guns when Columbia police officers pulled him over on May 10, 2023. The release says officers found 832 fake oxycodone pills that were actually fentanyl and 105 more pills in a pill bottle.
Other broken and crushed pills were also found, the release says.
Officers also found a loaded Taurus revolver and a loaded Springfield 9 mm handgun with a drum magazine in the rear floorboard on the passenger side, the release says. They found another pistol on the rear driver-side floorboard, the release says.
Investigators alleged that evidence on Harris' phone showed that he was selling "thousands of fentanyl pills to multiple customers." The release says Harris had a partner who traveled to Arizona and mailed pills to Harris in Columbia that totaled 4.8 kilograms.
Harris is subject to a minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a maximum of 35 years without parole. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.
