EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A 28-year-old man was recently sentenced in a federal court in El Paso to 20 years in prison for distribution of a controlled substance causing serious bodily injury, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Patrick Harley Chaires, 28, from El Paso, sold a counterfeit pill labeled M-30, which contained fentanyl on Tuesday, Jan. 10.
Pills with the M-30 imprint, which stands for 30 milligrams, can include any prescription drug, including hydrocodone or morphine. Criminal organizations that manufacture fentanyl, press pills to make them look like common prescription drugs, according to the DEA.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the person who purchased the pill consumed it and overdosed due to fentanyl poisoning.
The victim was revived after receiving medical care and Naloxone. Chaires was then arrested on Wednesday, Jan. 25, as the result of a DEA investigation.
This case was investigated by the Fentanyl Overdose Response Team (FORT) of the DEA’s El Paso Division, which is a West Texas HIDTA Initiative.
FORT is comprised of law enforcement personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, Department of Army Criminal Investigations Division, Texas Army National Guard, Texas Department of Public Safety, El Paso County Sheriff’s Department, and El Paso Police Department, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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