The 16th and final defendant in a major Elmira-based opioid ring responsible for at least two deaths has been sentenced.

Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. this week sentenced Terrance Washington, 32, of Elmira, to eleven years and three months in federal prison following his conviction on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, 100 grams or more of a fentanyl analogue, and witness retaliation.

Washington was a distributor in a large-scale opioid manufacturing and trafficking organization in the Southern Tier of New York and northern Pennsylvania between 2015 and May 2017, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Harvey, who prosecuted the case.

The leaders of the organization, Robert Ian Thatcher and Maximillian Sams, imported bulk quantities of furanyl fentanyl, acetyl fentantyl, and U-47700 from suppliers in China, Harvey said.

They ordered the drugs on what is known as “the dark web,” and used different people and addresses in New York and Pennsylvania to receive the shipments and sell the drugs.

At least two individuals — a 21 year-old female, and a 25 year-old male — died after ingesting the blue pills containing furanyl fentanyl and U-47700, according to authorities. 

Related: Elmira man who ran illegal fentantyl trafficking pleads guilty to federal drug charge

In addition, at least one individual overdosed on more than one occasion after using the blue pills manufactured and distributed by the organization, but survived after being treated by first responders with Narcan.

On Aug. 1, 2017, Washington was arrested in Georgia. While in federal custody in Ohio, he assaulted an inmate who had been cooperating with the Drug Enforcement Administration in the Elmira investigation. 

Washington assaulted the inmate in retaliation for the inmate’s cooperation with the DEA in the investigation of Washington and several associates, including Thatcher and Sams, prosecutors said. 

Thatcher was sentenced to 23 years in federal prison for his role in leading the ring, while Sams was sentenced to 17-and-a-half years.

Other defendants who were sentenced as part of the opioid ring:

• Anthony Prettyman: 125 months in federal prison.
• Dwayne Banks: 108 months.
• Jesus Rivera: 108 months.
• Amber Bates: Convicted of money laundering conspiracy, five years probation to include six months of home detention.
• Robert J. Elford: 121 months.
• Edward Barrett: 90 months.
• Scott Fairbanks: 90 months.
• Dusty Pemberton: 70 months.
• Deven Hill: 37 months.
• Chad Smith: 22 months.
• Jordan Jones: 20 months.
• Carlito Rios, Jr.: Time served and three years of supervised release.
• Isaiah McLaurin: Convicted of witness tampering, 57 months.

The convictions are the result of an investigation by multiple agencies at the federal, state and local levels, including the DEA, New York and Pennsylvania state police, Elmira Police Department and Chemung County Sheriff’s Office, among others.

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