Winter Garden man sentenced for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Winter Garden man will spend nearly 22 years in federal prison after he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

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According to court documents, Patrick Silfrain, 41, ran an operation making what are known as “fentapills.”

The process involved pressing pills to look like “legitimately manufactured pharmaceuticals that actually contained fentanyl and fentanyl analogs”, DOJ officials said.

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Investigators said Silfrain operated numerous presses simultaneously, each capable of producing 5,000 pills per hour.

Federal drug agents said they gathered evidence of numerous shipments of controlled substances and binding agents during their investigation.

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“Based on the total quantity of binding agents sent to the Silfrain operation, the DEA estimated it to be enough to press 3,760,000 pills,” the DOJ said in a press release.

Silfrain, who pleaded guilty in Nov. 2022, was the third man convicted following the investigation.

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Jean Kesnor Choisil, 51, of Ocoee, and Kevin Jean-Gilles, 41 of Groveland, also pled guilty to their roles in this conspiracy case.

In August, Choisil was sentenced to more than 6 years in prison and Jean-Gilles learned he will spend more than 19 years behind bars.

Justice officials said the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, and the Apopka Police Department assisted federal agents in the investigation.

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