Dayton Man Sentenced For Kentucky Fentanyl Trafficking

Sunday, August 31, 2025, 7:15 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

COVINGTON, KY.- Last Friday, a 45-year-old Dayton, Ohio, man learned he will be spending nearly two decades in federal prison after being sentenced for his role in a fentanyl trafficking conspiracy.

     According to Acting U.S. Attorney Paul McCaffrey, on Friday, August 22, 2025, Germel Hughes, 45, of Dayton, Ohio, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky and was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning to 222 months in federal prison, to be followed by ten years of supervised release after pleading guilty to federal drug crimes.

     Hughes previously appeared in Federal Court in Covington, Kentucky, and pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute 100 Grams or More of a Fentanyl Analogue; and Aiding and Abetting the Intended Distribution of 100 or More of a Mixture Containing a Fentanyl Analogue.

According To Court Documents

     According to court documents, on January 2, 2024, during an ongoing narcotics investigation, law enforcement Investigators used a confidential informant to arrange a controlled purchase of fentanyl from Earnest Bryson, who agreed to sell a kilogram of fentanyl to the confidential informant. On the following day, Bryson and co-defendants Julius Cole and Gerald Young traveled from Dayton, Ohio, to Fort Wright, Kentucky, to deliver the illicit narcotic to the informant.

     Upon arrival, law enforcement Investigators pulled up behind their vehicle and forcibly removed the two from the vehicle. A subsequent search of the vehicle uncovered that an attempt was made to destroy the drugs by mixing them with Coca-Cola. Some of the mixture was tested, and it revealed the presence of fentanyl as well as fluorofentanyl, a fentanyl analogue.

     Further investigation determined that Hughes had supplied 100 grams or more of the illicit narcotic that was to be distributed to the confidential informant.

     According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Cole and Young have both pleaded guilty to federal drug trafficking offenses and have been sentenced to 132 months and 18 months in federal prison, respectively.