Raleigh man who hid fentanyl in hotel ironing board gets federal prison sentence
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Federal court sentenced Joshua McClain to 188 months for opioid and stimulant trafficking
- Officers found fentanyl, AANP and other drugs hidden in hotel ironing board lining
- McClain appealed career-offender enhancement, disputing his prior prison time served
A Raleigh man was sentenced to over 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to trafficking fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine from a Cary hotel room.
Joshua McClain, 31, was sentenced to 188 months in prison Nov. 10, court documents show. The U.S.s Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced the sentence Tuesday.
Officers stopped McClain’s car in January 2024 after a suspected drug deal at a Raleigh motel, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Officers searched his car and found marijuana, drug paraphernalia and cash. McClain was arrested and released on bond, after which he returned to the Cary hotel where he was staying.
When staff at the hotel inspected McClain’s room, they found multiple bags of controlled substances inside the lining of an ironing board, including fentanyl and AANP, a chemical precursor used to make fentanyl, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
While being processed at the Wake County Detention Center in March 2024, officers found drugs — fentanyl, fluorofentanyl and cocaine — McClain had concealed on his body, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
“Fentanyl traffickers take lives across our communities, and dealers like McClain — who repeatedly return to this trade — fuel that crisis,” U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle said. “This sentence reflects the seriousness of his conduct and reinforces our commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to protect the public and hold repeat offenders accountable.”
McClain wrote a letter on Nov. 21 to file an appeal raising an issue about the career offender enhancement to his sentence, court documents show. McClain wrote that he never served over a year and a day in prison.
.jpg)