Rafael Cee-Erwin Solomon, also known as “Rip,” a 44-year-old from Detroit, Michigan, has been sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison for distributing fentanyl. The sentence will be followed by 10 years of supervised release. The sentencing took place on October 9, 2025.
Court records show that Solomon sold fentanyl on three occasions: once in Dunbar on March 10, 2025, and twice in St. Albans on March 24 and March 27, 2025.
Solomon’s criminal record includes a prior federal conviction from August 8, 2012, for conspiracy to distribute cocaine base, cocaine, and oxymorphone. He also has previous convictions for assault and battery-domestic violence, felonious assault (including on a police officer), assault with a dangerous weapon, malicious destruction of property, and arson.
He is one of sixteen people indicted after a federal investigation into the distribution of fentanyl and methamphetamine in the Charleston area between June 2024 and May 2025. Five defendants named in the main indictment have pleaded guilty; Solomon is among four others who pleaded guilty in related cases. The remaining defendants’ indictments are pending trial. It is noted that an indictment is only an allegation until proven otherwise in court.
United States Attorney Moore Capito announced the sentencing and praised the FBI for its investigative work.
The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin. Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy B. Wolfe prosecuted the case.
This prosecution falls under Operation Take Back America—a national initiative led by the Department of Justice aimed at countering illegal immigration, dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and addressing violent crime across communities.
Further information about this case can be found through PACER by searching Case No. 2:25-cr-77 on the U.S. Attorney’s Office website for the Southern District of West Virginia.
