SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — A 22-year-old suspect from California pled guilty on Thursday, April 27, to possessing over 65,000 fentanyl pills with the intent to distribute them in the Central New York area.

Jose Orozco Acosta admitted as part of his plea that on April 4, 2022, he traveled from Bakersfield, CA to a storage unit in Syracuse, NY, and transferred the contents of his storage unit which included over 65,000 fentanyl pills, weighing approximately 7.2 kilograms, into a storage unit in the city of Syracuse.

Acosta carried the pills in a black plastic tote and transferred them to the Syracuse storage unit with the intent to distribute them throughout the CNY area. 

The investigation was coordinated primarily by New York State Police Investigators in conjunction with DEA Special Agents in Bakersfield, CA, who revealed Acosta was transporting fentanyl and other narcotics from his home in Bakersfield to drug dealers in the CNY area for further distribution. 

As part of the investigation, many of the local dealers that Acosta was supplying were arrested in August 2022 during what authorities called the largest drug seizure in Cayuga County in over 10 years.

Acosta faces a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison, a fine of up to $10,000,000 and a term of supervised release of at least five years and up to life as a result of his plea.  

He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 22, 2023, by Chief United States District Judge Brenda K. Sannes in Syracuse, New York.