Dark web fentanyl distributor sentenced to 42 months in prison
Distributed pills tainted with fentanyl from his Puyallup storage facility
Tacoma / Thursday, March 5, 2026 – A Puyallup, Washington man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 42 months in prison for operating a ‘dark web’ marketplace selling fentanyl tainted pills, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Trevor Stephen Haahr, 34, of Puyallup, Washington, distributed more than 100,000 fentanyl pills designed to look like legitimately manufactured pain medications. When investigators searched his storage unit, which Haahr used as a parcel packaging center, they located nearly another kilogram of fentanyl pills. At sentencing U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright said, “This was not a matter of small-time drug dealing to supplement an individual habit; this took sophisticated efforts to sell large amounts of fentanyl.”
“This defendant was sending dangerous pills through the mails at the height of the fentanyl overdose crisis,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “His dark web distribution endangered not only those across the country who bought his pills, it endangered those postal workers who might be exposed to the fentanyl from a damaged package or shipping mishap.”
“Just one fentanyl pill has the potential to take a loved one, destroy a family, and forever change a community” said Inspector in Charge Anthony Galetti. “The U.S. Mail remains one of the most trusted forms of shipping in the world. When people misuse it to harm our communities, it’s our duty and responsibility to do everything we can to hold people like Haahr accountable. The sentencing today should serve as a warning to all. If you ship illegal and dangerous narcotics, we will find you. We thank the HSI and the FBI for their assistance on this case.”
According to the statements in the plea agreements, in early 2023, law enforcement began an investigation into sales of fentanyl pills on a marketplace located on the dark web. After ordering some of the pills that were labeled to appear as M30 oxycodone pills, law enforcement testing revealed they were fentanyl pills.
Through various investigative techniques, Trevor Stephen Haahr was identified as the operator of the marketplace on the dark web. In February 2024, Haahr mailed a package in Pierce County that was searched and contained more than 10,000 fentanyl pills.
On March 11, 2024, law enforcement executed search warrants at Haahr’s residence, office, storage locker, vehicle. At Haahr’s office he was signed on to the dark web vender profile. In his truck and storage locker investigators found drug proceeds, fentanyl pills, and supplies for shipping the drugs.
Law enforcement also seized bitcoin that Haahr had received in payment for the drugs. At the time it was seized the bitcoin was worth approximately $50,000. Haahr is forfeiting the bitcoin as proceeds of his drug dealing.
In asking for the 5-year prison sentence prosecutors noted that Haahr’s pill distribution occurred as fentanyl deaths were peaking in Kin County. “By 2023, the number of fentanyl-involved overdoses in King County rose to 1,086. Although the number of fentanyl-involved overdoses peaked in 2023 in King County, in 2024 there were still 788 fentanyl-involved overdoses. This data only reflects the local fatal impact of fentanyl, and overdose deaths, of course, are but one aspect of the fentanyl crisis in America. The overdose-deaths metric fails to show the long-term impact of fentanyl on surviving users, their families, and the community.”
Kaeli Arielle Albert, 35, of Orting, Washington, conspired with Haahr to provide the pills. She was sentenced earlier this year to 18 months in prison.
“By distributing more than 100,000 fentanyl laced pills, Mr. Haahr and his co-conspirators were spreading dangerous and highly addictive drugs into our communities,” said Jonathan Dean, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “The FBI and our partners will continue to pursue drug traffickers and hold them accountable, including those who might think they are hiding on the dark web.”
“As today’s sentence proves, the anonymity of the dark web does not shield criminals from facing justice,” said HSI Seattle Acting Special Agent in Charge April Miller. “Haahr will serve time in federal prison for putting lives at grave risk by flooding our communities with fentanyl‑laced counterfeit pills disguised as legitimate medicine. HSI, USPIS, and the FBI identified the source of this deadly online marketplace, tracked his supply chain and finances, and dismantled his operation. If you traffic fentanyl—on the street or online—we will find you and hold you accountable.”
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Brian Wynne and Casey Conzatti.
Contact
Press contact for the U.S. Attorney’s Office is Communications Director Emily Langlie at (206) 553-4110 or Emily.Langlie@usdoj.gov.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington
