Macon State Prison inmate sentenced in fentanyl trafficking case
Federal prosecutors say Devito Duran Young used a contraband cellphone while incarcerated to help direct shipments of fentanyl and synthetic cannabinoids from China
Devito Young (Credit: Georgia Department of Corrections)
OGLETHORPE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — A man incarcerated at Macon State Prison has been sentenced to more than 27 years in federal prison for helping traffic fentanyl and synthetic cannabinoids from China into Georgia, federal prosecutors say.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia says 45-year-old Devito Duran Young, also known as “Big” and “Big Man,” was sentenced Wednesday to 327 months in prison, followed by eight years of supervised release.
Young, who prosecutors say is from Marietta, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. Georgia prison records show he’s currently serving after being convicted on several sentences, including possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
Prosecutors say Young used a contraband cellphone and encrypted chat applications while in prison to order fentanyl. They say he directed 29-year-old Trace Davrin Works of Mableton to acquire the fentanyl and ship it to customers, including addresses in the Middle District of Georgia.
Works was sentenced Wednesday to 262 months in prison, followed by eight years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.
“The defendants took part in an international drug trafficking scheme from behind bars, moving fentanyl and other dangerous drugs from China into Southwest Georgia,” U.S. Attorney William R. ‘Will’ Keyes said.
According to prosecutors, Young and Works are being held accountable for trafficking 2,610 fentanyl pills weighing 279.64 grams.
Young is also being held accountable for trafficking 5,502.55 grams of MDMB-4en-PINACA, a synthetic cannabinoid.
Prosecutors say Young began conspiring to acquire and distribute fentanyl and synthetic cannabinoids from China in 2023 while he was incarcerated at Macon State Prison in Oglethorpe.
At the time, co-conspirator Andreaus Benard Oliver Sr. was incarcerated at the Macon Transitional Center, which is located on the prison campus, according to prosecutors.
Federal prosecutors say shipments of synthetic cannabinoids were sent to a home on 4th Avenue in Cordele occupied by Andreaus Benard Oliver Jr. The home was referred to as the “lab.”
After a package from China was intercepted, agents say they searched the home in July 2024 and found more than 175 metal pans with sheets of paper, bottles containing suspected cannabinoids, more than 350 dried sheets of paper soaked with cannabinoids, shipping labels addressed to inmates and other evidence, according to prosecutors.
Oliver Sr. and Oliver Jr. have pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced August 6.
Two people from China, Xin Wang and Gao Yong, were charged in a federal indictment and remain at large, according to prosecutors.
