Date: Nov. 13, 2024
Contact: [email protected]
Orlando, FL ¡ª U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron today sentenced George Pherai-Bogeajis to 19 years and 7 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl and possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. The court also ordered Pherai-Bogeajis to forfeit four vehicles and four firearms used in the offense, along with $867,265 of drug proceeds. Pherai-Bogeajis entered a guilty plea on June 18, 2024.
According to court documents, Pherai-Bogeajis was engaged in kilogram-level methamphetamine transactions for years. In March 2024, a co-conspirator was stopped after conducting a pickup from Pherai-Bogeajis¡¯s residence and found to be carrying $149,785 of drug proceeds.
On April 9, 2024, the DEA executed a search warrant at Pherai-Bogeajis¡¯s home and seized 48.9 kilograms of methamphetamine, more than 5,500 grams of MDMA, more than 2 kilograms of cocaine, 978 grams of fentanyl, hallucinogens, marijuana, oxycodone pills, four firearms, and $717,480 in cash. Additional drugs and two vehicles containing ¡°traps¡± to conceal drugs and proceeds for transport were located during a search of an address in Ocoee.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the Ocoee Police Department, the Orlando Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff¡¯s Office, and the Osceola County Sheriff¡¯s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dana E. Hill.
IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attach¨¦ posts abroad.