US Department of Justice: St. Pete man convicted of sex and drug offenses

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — A St. Petersburg man has been sentenced to life in prison for multiple drug offenses, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Joseph Marion, 41, was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine and crack cocaine, distribution of fentanyl, distribution of a mixture of fentanyl and heroin resulting in great bodily injury, and possession of fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine and crack cocaine with the intent to distribute.

As part of its sentence, the court also ordered Marion to forfeit the $13,190 seized from his pocket during his arrest that represented the proceeds of his crimes, the Justice Department said.

Marion imported fentanyl and fentanyl analogues from China through the U.S. mail, the agency said. He mixed and packaged the fentanyl himself and then sold it to several street dealers along with heroin, methamphetamine and crack cocaine.

During the trial, one of those street dealers testified that she bought 40 to 100 bags of fentanyl from Marion every day for several years. Marion sold between 15 and 37 pounds of fentanyl – enough to kill over 70,000 people – to just that one street dealer, the Justice Department said.

In November 2019, a woman who was with Marion in his apartment snorted his fentanyl, thinking it was heroin, and nearly died. Paramedics came to the apartment and saved her life, although she remained in the hospital for days afterward.

In addition to importing and selling drugs, he also trafficked women for prostitution. According to the Justice Department, he often recruited women addicted to his drugs and then offered them as prostitutes and “managed” them.