GREGG COUNTY, Texas — A Longview man who sold fake prescription pills containing fentanyl has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
According to Eastern District of Texas U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs, Don Paul Rickman, 39, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl resulting in death. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker on Thursday.
"According to information presented in court, Rickman admitted to selling the victim what were purported to be prescription pills, after which the victim’ mother found him dead in his bedroom," a press release from the Eastern District of Texas U.S. Attorney's Office said. "The pills sold by Rickman were later determined to be laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid commonly used as an analgesic or anesthetic that is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. An autopsy of the victim confirmed the cause of death to be a fentanyl overdose."
This case was investigated by the DEA; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF); and Longview Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lucas Machicek.