A Neshoba County man pleaded guilty in a federal drug case on Thursday.

Brian Christopher Sims, 35, of Philadelphia, entered the plea before U.S. Chief District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, according to a news release.

Sims was charged in August 2019 with selling fentanyl to an individual on Church Street in Philadelphia.

The fentanyl consisted of more than 31 separate, single-dose sublingual sprays that contained 200 micrograms each, officials said. 

“This criminal endangered all of East Central Mississippi with one of the deadliest drugs in the world. This tiny amount of fentanyl could have killed approximately 150,000 people, or five times the population of Neshoba County alone,” U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst said in the release.

Sims was charged in a three count indictment on Oct. 22, 2019 and will be sentenced by Jordan on Aug. 21, 2020. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.

Th case is a result of a joint investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.

Assisting agencies included the Philadelphia Police Department, Neshoba County Sheriff’s Department, Neshoba County District Attorney’s Office, Scott County Sheriff’s Office, Flowood Police Department, Rankin County Sheriff’s Department, Hinds County Sheriff’s Department, Carthage Police Department, Union Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Louisville Police Department, Mississippi Highway Patrol, and the United States Marshals Service.  

Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Chalk is prosecuting the case.