Man sentenced to prison for having fentanyl, machine gun

A Minneapolis man was sentenced to federal prison Friday for being in possession of fentanyl and a machine gun.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says 21-year-old Brian Silva was sentenced to six years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He’d previously pleaded guilty to possessing a machine gun and intent to distribute fentanyl.

Prosecutors say, on June 23, 2021, law enforcement officers were looking for Silva due to his outstanding warrants. They tracked him to a hotel in Bloomington and, when he tried to run away, took him into custody.

According to the attorney’s office, Silva had a satchel that contained 331 counterfeit prescription pills that contained fentanyl, as well as a 9 mm Glock handgun with an auto sear that enabled it to fire automatically. He was arrested by federal agents in Arizona the following month after a drug deal and had more than 327 grams of fentanyl pills and $1,500 in cash.