Auburn man sentenced to prison for garage fentanyl lab, guns

A 59-year-old man from Auburn was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison on Tuesday for making and selling fentanyl pills.

Johnny Elias was first arrested in 2024 after a lengthy investigation that revealed he was deeply involved in drug trafficking, according to a news release from Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller.

Investigators said they began watching Elias in late 2023. Court evidence showed he had created the shell company Bodacious Vitamins LLC and used it as a front for the drugs. With profits from drug sales, Elias spent over $16,000 on an industrial-grade pill press. When federal agents searched his Auburn home in November 2024, they discovered his garage had been turned into a drug lab.

Auburn man sentenced for garage drug lab

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized hundreds of pills laced with both fentanyl and heroin, four kilograms of blue fentanyl powder, Narcan, and various packaging materials. DEA agents also found several firearms.

“The deadly nature of the four kilograms of fentanyl powder that Mr. Elias was manufacturing into pills is easy to count:  It could have yielded over 300,000 lethal doses,” David F. Reames, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division, stated in the release. “Mr. Elias clearly knew the dangers of his scheme and took steps to protect himself from overdose and violence; callously disregarding these dangers, he foisted on others.”

Elias originally pleaded guilty in March 2025 to multiple charges, including illegal possession of firearms, possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture and distribute, and money laundering.

Elias will serve 11 years in federal prison, followed by a period of supervised release.

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