Oroville man convicted of trafficking of Fentanyl sentenced to 12 years
A resident of Oroville, California was sentenced in US District Court in Sacramento after being convicted of trafficking fentanyl. Julius Rucks, 42, of Oroville, was sentenced Monday to a term of 12 years and nine months in federal prison.
According to public proceedings and court documents, on Dec. 6, 2018, Jan. 10, 2019, and April 3, 2019, Rucks sold over 1,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl to a confidential source and undercover agent.
On July 23, 2019, agents executed a search warrant at Rucks’ residence in Oroville and found a large electric motor-driven pill press, the pill dies for stamping the counterfeit pharmaceutical markings onto the fake pills, large amounts of powdered fentanyl, pill binder material, and other pill manufacturing materials, and three handguns with loaded magazines.
In November 2022, Rucks pleaded guilty to three counts of distributing fentanyl. The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration with assistance from the Calaveras Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
