Six Indicted in Synthetic Opioid Case

Federal officials indicted five men and a woman in what prosecutors are calling “a wide-ranging” conspiracy to peddle synthetic opioids.

The six individuals in Georgia—Walker Christian Forrester, Kolbie Hadden Watters, Larry Overton, Jonathan Britt Lester, Armand Sananda Saedi, and Morgan McKenzie Slaton—are each charged with conspiracy in a scheme that prosecutors allege goes back to 2016.

The defendants are accused of using cryptocurrency on the so-called dark web to import synthetic opioids and make pills on industrial-grade machinery, allegedly selling the finished products on the dark web.

Forrester and Watters face firearms charges and several stiff drug charges and could be sentenced to life in prison without parole if convicted. Overton faces up to 20 years in prison, while the other three defendants are each looking at five years in prison if convicted, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.