April 14, 2025 – SAN DIEGO, CA – Erik David Morgan of Alpine was sentenced in federal court on Friday to 72 months in 
prison for possessing a significant amount of fentanyl with the intent to distribute.
According to plea documents, Morgan used social media messaging applications to arrange to sell 3.5 grams of fentanyl for $150 to an individual who was, in fact, an undercover agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
On March 14, 2024, when Morgan arrived at the meeting location in El Cajon, he was encountered by uniformed El Cajon police officers, who discovered Morgan in possession of 10.05 grams of fentanyl.
Federal agents and task force officers with Homeland Security Investigations’ Fentanyl Abatement and Suppression Team (FAST) led this investigation.
HSI San Diego FAST is a multiagency task force comprising state, local and federal partners and was first established in August 2022 focusing on the disruption and dismantlement of criminal organizations that smuggle and distribute fentanyl with San Diego County. HSI’s FAST targets fentanyl smuggling and distribution networks to counter the rising overdose rate and decrease the availability and accessibility of fentanyl.
Fentanyl remains a serious threat. The latest DEA laboratory testing announced last fall indicated that five out of 10 pills tested contained a potentially deadly dose of fentanyl. Two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose. For perspective, one gram of fentanyl, equivalent in size to a sugar packet, has the potential to kill up to 500 people.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron McElhose.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
DEFENDANT Case Number 24cr787-BAS
Erik David Morgan Age: 44 Alpine, CA
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl – Title 21, U.S.C., Section 841(a)(1)
Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $1,000,000 fine
INVESTIGATING AGENCIES
Homeland Security Investigations
El Cajon Police Department
Source: DOJ Release
