Madison Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Family Drug Trafficking Case: Meth, Fentanyl and Two Pistols Seized
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Wisconsin announced that Dajuea M. Purnell, 28, of Madison, in Dane County, Wisconsin, was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and 400 grams or more of fentanyl, and for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. The prison term will be followed by 5 years of supervised release. Purnell pleaded guilty to the charges on August 3, 2026.
In early 2024, law enforcement began investigating a drug trafficking organization operating in Dane County led by Jamar Purnell. Dajuea Purnell was identified as a primary distributor for the organization, delivering methamphetamine, heroin laced with fentanyl, and cocaine on behalf of his father. On July 2, 2024, he distributed 655 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant in Madison, and on July 9, 2024, he distributed another 336 grams.
On July 19, 2024, officers arrested Purnell as he left a co-conspirator's residence in Madison. His backpack contained 280 grams of methamphetamine, 163 grams of fentanyl, 17 grams of cocaine, $11,460 in cash, and a digital scale, and a loaded Glock 19X 9mm pistol with an extended magazine was found in his car nearby. A search of his Madison residence the same day seized 1,139 grams of methamphetamine, 513 grams of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues, 871 grams of cocaine, two digital scales, and another Glock pistol. Purnell is prohibited from possessing firearms because of a prior felony conviction, and at the time he was on state supervision for a prior fentanyl trafficking conviction, which was later revoked and resulted in a 2-year state prison sentence in that case.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the ATF Madison Crime Gun Task Force, the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, the Dane County Narcotics Task Force, and other agencies, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven P. Anderson and David Reinhard. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于威斯康星州戴恩县 Madison 的戴恩县法院与 Madison 市政厅大楼（资料图）。照片：Warren LeMay 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Dane County Courthouse and Madison City Hall building in Madison, Wisconsin (file photo). By Warren LeMay, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
