Dallas fentanyl dealer gets 20 years for selling "staggering" amount of drugs
DALLAS — A Dallas drug trafficker, who admitted to selling over 142,000 counterfeit fentanyl pills was sentenced to 20 years in jail.
Last April, Terrill Antwan Ray, 48, entered a guilty plea to the charge of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with the purpose of distributing it.
Ray confessed to distributing more than 142,000 counterfeit fentanyl pills marked to resemble hydrocodone and oxycodone.
In his plea, Ray said law enforcement seized over 28,000 counterfeit pills during a 2019 raid on his apartment.
Subsequent raids on the homes of two coconspirators led to an additional 114,000 counterfeit fentanyl pills, including 105,000 that belonged to Ray. They also seized an electromagnetic foil capping machine, hundreds of empty plastic pill bottles, more than $11,000 in U.S. currency, and two firearms.
Chief U.S. District Judge David Godbey called the amount of drugs in the case "staggering."
Text messages between Ray and a down-line distributor discussed drug debts and referenced "school busses" (code for narcotics), "blues" (slang for oxycodone), and "dros" (slang for hydrocodone), court documents showed.
"Today's sentencing of Terrill Ray exemplifies the commitment of DEA Dallas and our numerous law enforcement partners to relentlessly pursue those who distribute illicit fentanyl," said DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge, Eduardo A. Chávez. "Mr. Ray is being held accountable for the poison that found its way into our community by his hand and the tens of thousands of pills that could have found their way into our [loved] ones' hands. DEA Dallas remains relentless in our efforts to rid illicit fentanyl from the streets of Dallas, while equally supporting and standing firm with those family members and friends affected by the grip of illicit substance abuse."
The Drug Enforcement Administration's Dallas Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Dallas Police Department, the DeSoto Police Department, and the Cedar Hill Police Department.
