Feds: 700 grams of fentanyl mailed to Boardman home

Rodney Self

A Boardman man faces a federal charge after investigators say a package containing more than one-and-a-half pounds of the powerful opiate fentanyl was sent to his home.

Rodney Self, 45, was booked into the Mahoning County jail Monday on a charge of possession with intent to distribute, and conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.

According to an affidavit filed by an agent from the Department of Homeland Security, a drug-sniffing dog led investigators in the post office to a package from a false address in California, addressed to a home in Boardman.  Police say neighbors had been complaining about many people coming and going to the home.

The affidavit does not disclose the address of the home.

Agents say the package contained two baggies holding nearly 700 grams, the equivalent of more than one-and-a-half pounds of Acetyl Fentanyl, which the DEA describes as a potent opioid linked to overdose deaths.

Investigators say the powerful drug was replaced with a GPS tracker and was delivered to the tan, two-story home.

Shortly after, undercover agents say they followed Self when he drove from the home carrying the package.

Agents pulled the Dodge Nitro on Judson Avenue in Youngstown and arrested Self.

Under questioning, Self told investigators that had received a phone call from a man he only knew as “Dion”, instructing him to bring the package of “shoes” to a fast food restaurant on Midlothian Boulevard.

Self told agents that he believed that the package contained marijuana or cocaine, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit does not identify “Dion”, and there is no indication as to whether he has been arrested or charged.

Self is scheduled for a detention hearing in U.S. District Court in Youngstown on Monday.