Court Watching: Sumpter man serving time in federal prison for distributing fentanyl

Demetre Maurice Brown-Lovelace, 29, of Sumpter Township and Noelle Tufts, 24, of Ironton, Ohio, were both sentenced to federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge David L. Bunning on Aug. 13, 2018 for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.
The two previously admitted that in April 2017 they conspired together with others to distribute 209 grams of fentanyl, according to the Department of Justice. Both entered guilty pleas to the conspiracy charge in May, 2018.
Brown-Lovelace was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Tufts received a sentence of five years. Brown-Lovelace had a prior conviction for trafficking in a controlled substance, heroin, from the Boyd County Circuit Court in Kentucky in April 2016.
Each will have to serve 85% of their sentence, in accordance with federal law. On court documents Brown-Lovelace’s current release date is listed as Feb. 1, 2026.
After their releases, Brown-Lovelace will be on probation for eight years and Tufts for four years. Brown-Lovelace was remanded to the federal prison in Milan, MI, and now is at the Gilmer Federal prison in Glenville, WV.
The sentences were announced jointly by U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky Robert M. Duncan, Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Allan Jones from the Pittsburg Field Office and Kentucky State Police Commissioner Richard Sanders.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI Huntington, W.Va. Resident Agency and the Kentucky State Police. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia T. Reiker.
Brown-Lovelace also served five years in a Michigan prison for home invasion first degree and was discharged Sept. 10, 2015.
A few days later, on Sept. 12, 2015, he was charged with uttering and publishing in Sumpter Township, with Officer Brian Steffani in charge of that case. A warrant for his arrest remained in effect until early in 2019 when Wayne County Prosecutor offered him a plea deal – by mail.
If Brown-Lovelace would plead guilty to the uttering and publishing charge, he would be sentenced to 93 days and be able to serve it concurrently with his ten years.
He replied by mail with the guilty plea and on April 12, 2019, 34th District Court Judge Brian A. Oakley cancelled the warrant for his arrest, credited him with time served, and closed the case.