Mother And Son In New Jersey Indicted For Selling Counterfeit Fentanyl Pills

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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced charges against a New Jersey mother and her son for their alleged roles in a drug trafficking conspiracy. Authorities arrested Candace Gottlieb in New Jersey and Tyler Gottlieb in California. Both were charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana. Their arrests came after a federal investigation into the trafficking of counterfeit prescription opioids pills made with fentanyl and heroin.

According to the criminal complaint, both Candace and Tyler sold counterfeit pills to a confidential human source (CHS). The first controlled buy took place on March 28, 2018 when Tyler Gottlieb sold the CHS 200 counterfeit 30-milligram Percocets. Subsequent testing performed by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) showed the pills contained fentanyl and heroin. A second controlled buy took place on May 23, 2018. This time, Candace Gottlieb sold the CHS a total of 600 counterfeit pills made to look like three different prescription drugs.

While picking up that second batch of pills, the criminal complaint says that the CHS asked Candace about a large clear plastic bag of pills on a couch. When the CHS asked her how many pills she had in the house, Candace guessed 30,000. During the execution of a search warrant at the New Jersey residence shared by Candace and Tyler Gottlieb on June 1, 2018, federal and local law enforcement seized approximately 6,600 additional counterfeit prescription pills suspected to contain fentanyl and heroin, along with other illicit drugs packaged for distribution.

This case is the result of the combined efforts of multiple agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s South Jersey Violent Offender and Gang Task Force, South Jersey Resident Agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Camden County Sheriff’s Department, the Camden County Police Department, and the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabriel J. Vidoni will prosecute the case.