Woman living in Mass. pleads guilty to distributing fentanyl

A 74-year-old woman in Massachusetts has been sentenced to two years of probation after she pleaded guilty to taking part in an interstate fentanyl trafficking ring.

Patrica Parker will spend nine months of her probation on home confinement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Rhode Island said Monday. Originally from Texas but now living in Massachusetts, Parker pleaded guilty in May to conspiring to distribute fentanyl and distributing more than 310 grams of the drug, equivalent to 150,000 lethal doses. 

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Parker popped up on authorities’ radar in 2022 after she distributed fentanyl-laced counterfeit amphetamine pills to an undercover Food and Drug Administration special agent in Rhode Island. 

In an affidavit filed in federal court, the FDA agent described Parker as a “remailer,” or someone who receives a large parcel of illicit product from overseas and breaks it into smaller packages before mailing those along. 

A search of Parker’s home and vehicle turned up more than 18,000 illicit pills, some of which were stored in an ornamental seasonal tin. According to the FDA agent, the pills included Adderall, oxycodone, and diazepam, among other drugs. 

Parker purportedly told authorities she had been ordering pharmaceuticals from a man named “John” for several years but could no longer afford the medications. At that point, she said, “John” offered to provide her pharmaceuticals if she agreed to mail pills to others. 

Prosecutors said records showed Parker had distributed more than 1,000 parcels believed to contain illegal drugs. 

In a sentencing memorandum, Parker’s attorney explained she took on the repacking work as a “side hustle” after the COVID-19 pandemic devastated her real estate career and left her unable to afford her medications. Writing to Judge Melissa DuBose, Parker described her remorse for the debacle, which she said “has humbled me beyond words.” 

“This incident is completely out of character with the life I have lived and values I have always tried to uphold,” she wrote in her letter.

Prosecutors alleged in their own sentencing memorandum that Parker’s clandestine activity essentially turned her living room into a pharmacy and “presented dangers that an educated, adult woman must have recognized.”

However, Parker maintained she was unaware some of the pills she was packaging contained fentanyl. 

“I would NEVER have knowingly taken part in anything related to such a dangerous drug,” she wrote, adding, “I should have inquired what it was, so that was my own doing. I see that in retrospect, but that fact haunts me to this day…”

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.