DES MOINES, Iowa – A Des Moines man was sentenced on July 17, 2025, to 220 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, in the fall of 2024, Sean Michael O’Boyle, 34, was selling and receiving distribution-quantities of fentanyl. On September 30, 2024, law enforcement approached O’Boyle’s car, and he fled. O’Boyle hit a police vehicle, crashed into a tree, and then continued to run on foot. During the foot pursuit, O’Boyle threw a stolen, loaded firearm into a yard. In the car O’Boyle drove, police found a distribution quantity of fentanyl and another firearm.

At the sentencing hearing, O’Boyle was found responsible for 315 grams of fentanyl and found to have recklessly created a substantial risk of injury during his flight from law enforcement. After completing his term of imprisonment, O’Boyle will be required to serve a five-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Fentanyl has become the leading cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States. Fentanyl deaths for youth ages 15 to 24 more than doubled between 2018 and 2022. Counterfeit, fentanyl-laced pills often resemble pharmaceutical pills, but contain potentially lethal doses of fentanyl. Visit the Drug Enforcement Administration’s website to learn more about One Pill Can Kill.