A Fort Worth couple tied to at least two drug overdose deaths were sentenced on Friday to a combined 51 years in prison, officials said.
Court records show that Edward Taylor, 42, and Tierrah Andrews, 29, admitted trafficking fentanyl pills and cocaine in the Las Vegas Trail neighborhood, a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas states.
U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton of the Northern District of Texas said her office is committed to holding fentanyl traffickers accountable for the lives they’ve destroyed.
A U.S. District judge sentenced Taylor to 27 years and Andrews to 24 years in federal prison Friday, according to the release.
“Traffickers know that fentanyl does not discriminate,” Simon said in the release. “It takes the lives of first-time users and long-term addicts alike. These round blue pills are fueling a crisis that is ripping apart families across America.”
On Nov. 2, 2023, a man identified by the initials T.M. in the news release took a rideshare to a Fort Worth motel. Surveillance video shows him briefly enter a room occupied by Taylor. The man was found dead in his bedroom just hours after leaving the motel.
T.M. died of mixed drug toxicity , according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Officer. His mother found his body next to a crushed M-30 pill containing fentanyl. Four additional M-30 pills were found in his room.
Taylor later admitted to selling T.M. drugs, according to the release.
On Jan. 26, 2024, a 21-year-old texted Andrews asking for crack cocaine and fentanyl pills, officials said. The man, identified as K.S. in the news release, visited Andrews at her Fort Worth apartment and paid her $77 via CashApp.
K.S. was found dead that afternoon. According to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner, the 21-year-old died from mixed drug toxicity . White powder, M-30 pills containing fentanyl and a glass pipe were later found at the location of his death.
Andrews later confessed to selling him drugs, the release states.
Police received a tip in January from a source who told them he’d purchased fentanyl and crack cocaine from a couple in Fort Worth. He gave authorities Taylor’s CashApp account and Andrews’ phone number, the release states. Another source also confirmed purchasing cocaine and pills from the pair over a period of several months.
Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Andrews’ apartment on Jan. 27. They found 6.6 grams of methamphetamine, 2.8 grams of cocaine and 270 blue M-30 pills, according to the release. They also found a ledger containing a record of drug transactions and 50 rounds of 9mm ammunition.
Andrews had a loaded “ghost gun” on her person. She told the officers she dealt drugs provided by Taylor and carried the pistol for protection, officials said.
On Feb. 29, an undercover agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives paid Andrews $275 for around 6.28 grams of blue M-30 pills containing fentanyl.
Andrews bagged up the pills inside her apartment, according to the release, and the undercover agent saw Taylor ask her about the transaction. The deal was completed outside in the agent’s vehicle.
At the time of their arrest a week later, Andrews and Taylor were found with additional blue M-30 pills and firearms, according to the release. The pair pleaded guilty in May to the charge of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.
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