A Lancaster man who was convicted in December on two charges of delivery of fentanyl and a charge each of possession with intent to deliver and drug delivery resulting in death faces 9 to 18 years in prison after being sentenced March 9 by Lancaster County Judge Jeffery D. Wright.

Emilio Perralta, 21 of the 600 block of E. King St., formerly of Newark, N.J., did not take the opportunity to speak when Judge Wright asked if he wanted to, stating “I don’t think so” after a long pause.

Assistant District Attorney Chris Miller prosecuted the case and emphasized that the defendant’s actions were unacceptable, regardless of his age and his own drug addiction.

“This was not a case where the defendant has shown any remorse,” Miller said. “He’s preying on the weakest members of our society.”

Miller also asked the judge to consider the testimony of the defendant and that trial presented a unique viewpoint of the incident, and the opioid epidemic overall, since these crimes typically end in pleas. Fentanyl is approximately 100 times more potent than heroin.

“Take into account the jury soundly rejected the defendant’s testimony,” Miller asked the judge.

Perralta sold pure fentanyl to undercover police officers on two occasions in August and September of 2019. Police responded to a female who had overdosed and was beyond help in November of 2019 and the fentanyl used in the overdose came from a dealer who stamped the bags with a blue paper sleeve labeled “DIABLO.” The man who called 911 stated he received the fentanyl from a man that goes by “Rooster” and “Bucks.”

On November 23, 2019, Perralta was arrested on one of the pending fentanyl delivery charges and was found to be in possession of 68 bags that also contained blue wax paper sleeves stamped “DIABLO,” each containing fentanyl.

Wright sentenced Perralta to 6-12 years on the drug delivery resulting in death conviction and 3-6 on the possession with intent to deliver, which ran consecutively.

“You may not be happy with the sentence,” Wright said to Perralta. “But you have the luxury of a daughter to come home to eventually, something [the victim] no longer has.”

Perralta was taken back to Lancaster County Prison following the hearing.

Lancaster City Bureau of Police Detectives Jared Snader, Adam Flurry and Manor Township Sgt. Matthew Wolf filed charges.

MEDIA CONTACT: Sean McBryan, semcbryan@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @SeanMcBryanLanc.