CONCORD, NH – A Manchester man was sentenced on October 21, 2025, in federal court for operating a counterfeit pill laboratory, U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan announced Thursday.
Jerry Summers, 45, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Paul J. Barbadoro to 80 months in federal prison and 3 years of supervised release. In April 2025, Summers pleaded guilty to six-counts of manufacturing controlled substances; possession with intent to distribute controlled substances; distributing 40 or more grams of fentanyl and methamphetamine; and trafficking in a drug and knowingly using a counterfeit mark on or in connection with the drug.
“The illegal production and distribution of counterfeit prescription pills, particularly those tainted with lethal drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine, have devastated families and communities,” said U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan. “Our office, together with our law enforcement partners, will continue to pursue and dismantle the operations of pill manufacturers like Mr. Summers who profit from poisoning the public.”
“The state of New Hampshire is faced with a fentanyl crisis unlike ever before,” said Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (“DEA”) New England Field Division. “Those responsible for distributing lethal drugs like fentanyl in the form of counterfeit prescription pills to the citizens of New Hampshire need to be held accountable for their actions. DEA will aggressively pursue Drug Trafficking Organizations and individuals who distribute this poison in order to profit and destroy people’s lives. This investigation demonstrates the strength and continued commitment of our local, state and federal law enforcement partners.”
According to the charging documents and plea agreement, in January 2023, the DEA and the Manchester, New Hampshire Police Department (“MPD”), began investigating the defendant for using an office suite in Manchester to manufacture counterfeit pills marked as OxyContin and Adderall but which actually contained fentanyl and methamphetamine, respectively. Investigators developed a confidential source who bought hundreds of blue fentanyl and orange methamphetamine pills from the defendant during controlled buys in March and April, 2024.
Investigators applied for and received a federal search warrant for an office suite registered to the defendant’s drywall business. Prior to the search, investigators arrested the defendant following a traffic stop where the defendant admitted to his primary participation and sole responsibility in operating the pill-pressing scheme.
While searching the defendant’s office suite, the DEA’s Clandestine Laboratory Team found an industrial-grade mechanical pill press covered in a powdered residue and wrapped in foam soundproofing material, which was used to conceal its sound and avoid detection. Also inside the defendant’s office suite were dozens of kilograms of various powders used for making pills; a vacuum sealing device; dozens of punch and die sets; packaging material; and approximately 20,000 pressed pills, many of which were consistent with the orange and blue pills that the defendant sold during the controlled buys. DEA tested some of the pills and powders recovered from the defendant’s office suite, which were found to contain more than 12 pounds of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine (5,651.35 grams) and almost three pounds of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl (1,259.64 grams).
The DEA led the investigation. MPD provided valuable assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Shannon prosecuted the case.