FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — According to the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ), a Farmington man has been sentenced to 38 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for distributing fentanyl that killed a man.
According to court documents, on Feb. 3, 2022, the Fayetteville Police Department (FPD) found a 29-year-old man dead, with fentanyl and a syringe next to the body.
Shortly after, family members of the dead man reportedly contacted the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), who launched a federal investigation.
DEA agents say that on the night of Jan. 31, 2022, the dead man and his girlfriend bought what they believed to be heroin from Ethan Scott Driskill, 33, at a gas station in Fayetteville.
During the investigation, DEA agents conducted two controlled purchases of fentanyl directly from Driskill, resulting in a search warrant for Driskill’s Farmington home, where they found approximately 730 counterfeit pills containing Fentanyl, around 240 grams of Fentanyl powder, and two guns.
Driskill, who was already being supervised based on a previous felony conviction, was arrested along with his co-conspirator Amber Adair. Officials say that during an interview, Driskill admitted to selling fentanyl to the man who died.
Officials say this is the first time someone in Western Arkansas has been charged with killing somebody by selling them fentanyl. They call fentanyl use a crisis in Arkansas.
"This is a tremendous sentence, and we're very proud of the hard work that it represents. But it's also a sentence that is emblematic of the larger issue that's happening in Arkansas and in the United States as a whole," said United States Attorney Clay Fowlkes. "Statistics tell us that the distribution of fentanyl has resulted in over 100,000 overdose deaths per year, making the abuse of fentanyl and other opioids the number one cause of death among Americans 18 - 45.”
Other members of the drug trafficking organization who were indicted:
- Amber Adair: 28, Farmington, – Aiding in the possession of fentanyl with the intent to distribute
- Sentenced to 8 years in prison, followed by four years of supervised release
- Marchello Oliver: 34, Farmington, - Possession of fentanyl with the intent to distribute
- Sentencing date set for September 21, 2023
5NEWS will update this story as more information becomes available.
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