New details released after guilty plea of Carrollton drug dealer who ran fentanyl ring
CARROLLTON, Texas - A man accused of selling fentanyl and who is connected to the overdose deaths of teens in North Texas recently pleaded guilty to federal drug charges.
The 21-year-old dealer admitted to hiring teenaged drug dealers and selling fentanyl pills from his home in Carrollton.
A months-long federal investigation into dealers selling fentanyl laced pills to North Texas middle and high schools students netted another guilty plea this week.
Luis Eduardo Navarrete pleaded guilty to conspiracy and distribution charges.
Navarrete is connected to the overdose deaths of at least three teens and the hospitalization of others.
2 Carrollton adults led fentanyl ring that led to deaths, hospitalizations of students, feds say
Federal authorities believe two adults are behind a fentanyl ring in Carrollton that led to three students' deaths and several more juvenile hospitalizations.
He and 10 others were charged int the deadly drug selling scheme. He’s the ninth to plead guilty.
John Helms is a former federal prosecutor not involved in this case.
He said the multiple guilty pleas from this investigation is due to the hard work from investigators, but said there also is a strategy to defendants pleading guilty.
"The way the federal system works is if you go to trial and you are found guilty by a jury, you will almost always get a significantly longer sentence than you would if you plead guilty," he explained. "So if these people know that they're going to be found guilty if they go to trial, if they are acting rationally, they will plead guilty and try and get a shorter sentence."
Navarrete was selling the pills from his home in Carrollton.
Recently released court documents revealed that while he was selling the drugs he was out on bond in a Dallas County criminal case.
Navarrete was on house arrest and fitted with an ankle monitor.
Investigators said he relied on others to bring counterfeit pain pills laced with fentanyl to him. He'd then sell them himself out of his home, and he also hired teenaged drug dealers to sell them at schools.
His home was down the street from R.L. Turner High School, one of the Carrollton schools where students bought pills and overdosed.
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- Fentanyl trafficker tied to juvenile overdoses in Carrollton pleads guilty to drug crimes
- 2 more arrests made in fentanyl ring that killed Carrollton teens, feds say
- Fentanyl dealer connected to Carrollton 13-year-old's death pleads guilty
- Flower Mound fentanyl trafficker known as 'Steve-O' sentenced to more than 8 years in prison
"The tragic thing here is that for some reason, children were being targeted by individual street level dealers. And in some cases, it sounds like the children were looking for it. And hopefully, as a result of the publicity surrounding the overdoses and the four deaths in Carrolton and Farmers Branch, hopefully children will not go looking for this stuff anymore," Helms said.
Texas now has a law that allows local prosecutors to charge dealers with murder for fentanyl overdoses. It’s unclear if Navarette will face any murder charges in the future.
"What Texas prosecutors decide to do, I don't know. But I would be a little surprised if they try to come in behind the federal government in these cases," Helms added.
Navarette faces up to 40 years in federal prison.
He will be sentenced in February 2024.