Midlander sentenced to 20 years after two men die of fentanyl poisoning

MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- A Midland man was sentenced in a federal court to 20 years in prison for his role in a fentanyl trafficking conspiracy that led to the death of at least two men in the Permian Basin.

According to court documents, William Jake Childers, 39, trafficked counterfeit M-30 Oxycodone pills containing fentanyl that led to at least two deaths in West Texas.

In May 2022, Winkler County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to an unattended death at a residence in Kermit. Autopsy results confirmed the cause of the man’s death to be acute fentanyl toxicity. An investigation confirmed that the victim and Childers had communicated about the sale of fentanyl pills.

In May 2023, Midland Police Department officers discovered an unconscious male victim at a residence, who died after being transported to a Midland hospital. The death was also confirmed to be from fentanyl toxicity and investigators again traced the fentanyl pills to Childers’s drug trafficking conspiracy.

Childers was pulled over for a traffic stop by Ranger Police Department officers in October 2023. A search of his vehicle revealed 740 fentanyl-laced M-30 pills and a loaded firearm.

“This office has again prosecuted a case in which fentanyl traffickers valued quick profits over human lives,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas. “Sadly, fentanyl continues to plague our communities and claim the lives of our friends, neighbors and loved ones. My office remains committed to vigorously prosecuting fentanyl traffickers and seeking strong sentences as a deterrent to these criminals.”

“Unfortunately, the poison these traffickers are selling is killing more and more Americans,” said Special Agent in Charge Towanda R. Thorne-James for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s El Paso Division. “The public needs to know the DEA investigates these drug-related deaths. And if you kill someone by selling them your poison, you will be held responsible for that death.”

Co-defendant Jessi Cortez remains in custody awaiting sentencing.

A mugshot for Childers was not immediately available.

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