A Georgia man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking operation—directed from behind bars—that moved fentanyl and synthetic cannabinoids from China to Southwest Georgia, according to federal prosecutors.
Andreaus Benard Oliver Jr., 27, of Cordele, Georgia, was sentenced to 168 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, in U.S. District Court in Athens, Georgia, on Oct. 1.
The defendant, also known as Dray Oliver, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance on April 15.
Oliver was one of the six individuals charged with drug-related offenses in August 2025, including two men from China and two prisoners in Georgia.
One of the inmates was Oliver Jr.’s father, Andreaus Benard Oliver Sr., while the other was Devito Duran Young.
The two Chinese nationals—Wang Xin, 28, and Yong Gao, 29—allegedly facilitated the sale and distribution of the synthetic controlled substances from China to customers around the world, including Oliver Sr. and Young, according to prosecutors.
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Wang and Yong remain at large, according to William R. “Will” Keyes, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia.
“Those who traffic fentanyl and other dangerous drugs from China into Southwest Georgia will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Keyes said in a statement on Oct. 1.
Oliver Sr., who pleaded guilty to the same charge as his son, was sentenced to 210 months in prison followed by six years of supervised release in September.
Young was sentenced to 327 months in prison followed by eight years of supervised release in July. Young was sentenced alongside Trace Davrin Works, who received 262 months in prison followed by eight years of supervised release.
“These defendants profited from the opioid epidemic and endangered thousands of lives by trafficking fentanyl,” Robert Gibbs, supervisory senior resident agent of FBI Atlanta’s Athens office, said in a statement on Oct. 1.
Prosecutors said the group’s conspiracy began in 2023, when Young was incarcerated at Georgia’s Macon State Prison, and Oliver Sr. was incarcerated at Georgia’s Macon Transitional Center.
Oliver Jr. and other co-conspirators placed several online orders for synthetic cannabinoids from Wang and Yong and paid for the drugs with cryptocurrency, according to prosecutors.
The packages were shipped to addresses in Cordele, including Oliver Jr.’s residence.
According to the plea agreement, Oliver Jr. sent about $39,445 worth of Bitcoin to a cryptocurrency wallet controlled by Wang from July 2023 to February 2024.
On July 22, 2024, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at Oliver Jr.’s residence, which prosecutors described as an “illegal drug conversion lab.”
According to the plea agreement, among the items agents seized were 191 metal pans, several jugs and bottles containing suspected cannabinoids, 373 dried sheets of paper suspected to have been soaked with cannabinoids, about $2,700 in cash, ledgers, and shipping labels addressed to inmates in jail and prison facilities around the country.
In prison, Young used a contraband cellphone to communicate through encrypted messaging apps and place orders for fentanyl, according to prosecutors.
He then directed Works to obtain the drugs and ship them to customers, including recipients at addresses in the Middle District of Georgia.
Young and Works both paid for their orders with cryptocurrency, according to prosecutors.
They said Young and Works were responsible for trafficking 2,610 fentanyl pills, and Young was also responsible for trafficking more than 5,500 grams of a new synthetic cannabinoid.
The case was the result of an investigation by the Homeland Security Task Force, a multi-agency task force co-led by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations.
According to court records, Oliver Jr.’s legal representation was terminated on Oct. 2.
