New Texas Law: Fentanyl Dealers Face Murder Charges

FentanylPhoto byDEA.Gov

Fentanyl's impact on Houston's community throughout the Harris, County Texas region has been deadly to its core, reflecting a similar trend nationwide. According to state health data, in 2022, Houston has the highest statistics for fentanyl-related deaths.

Fentanyl dealers roaming the streets of Houston must beware that a new state law allows prosecutors to charge them with homicide if a death occurs as a result of the pusher selling fentanyl to someone who dies.

Many users are unaware that the drugs they are purchasing, often marketed as heroin or prescription pills contain fentanyl which can result in sudden and lethal overdose.

The new law has significant implications. First, a person can be charged with murder if they knowingly distribute or manufacture fentanyl, and the user dies as a result of using it. The law states that the seller does not have to kill the person intentionally to be found guilty.

Texas House Bill 6 has also increased the prison sentences for those involved in the production or distribution of fentanyl. Offenders arrested with less than one gram could face two to ten years in prison. Those found guilty of manufacturing or delivering more than 400 grams of fentanyl will face a minimum sentence of 15 years imprisonment, and up to life for possessing over 400 grams.

Opposite Views

“No study has ever shown that increasing penalties for drug usage has ever reduced drug usage in people who have a drug addiction,” said Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston during a House session in April.

In other states that have increased penalties for people who sell or make fentanyl, overdose deaths have increased and family members and friends of those present when the victim took the drug have been charged.

Deadly ConsequencesPhoto byStopDrugsHouston

Last year, the 88th Texas Legislature passed House Bill 6. The bill classified fentanyl overdoses as poisoning. Fentanyl slingers can easily be charged with homicide under this new law that went into effect on September 1, 2024.

Since HB-6 passage on September 1, 2023, The Harris County District Attorney’s Office in Houston has confirmed that approximately eight cases involve defendants charged with murder. None of these active cases have been to trial yet.

"From my point of view on the prosecutorial end of it, it's one more thing we have in our toolbag to handle these types of deaths," Harris County DA's office's major narcotics section chief Garrett Moore said. "The ability to prosecute this type of offense existed before, but it was tied very closely to the weight of the amount delivered.”

For example, 317 people died in 2019 from a fentanyl overdose in Texas, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. In 2022, the numbers skyrocketed to over 2,000 statewide. Meanwhile as already stated the same data showed Harris County ranks number one in the state for fentanyl overdose deaths with 487 decedents in 2022.

"When it's used in a non-medical and non-controlled environment, it very much is akin to poison," Moore said. "The goal is always to get dealers, to get people who are trafficking and to make sure that they're held accountable for the trafficking they're conducting."

Moore said the DA's office also has programs for those who are believed to be addicted to fentanyl, or other dangerous drugs.

"There's a delineation, both factually, within our office and legally, between possession and possession with intent or delivery," he said. "We’ve got programs like RIC [Reintegration] Court here that are designed to help people who are recovering and are dealing with addiction issues. Then there's major narcotics, which is my section, that handles the fentanyl ... people who are dealing this stuff to turn a profit as a living."

Two Charged in Fentanyl Death of a Struggling Addict

Muhammad Rafay, 25, and Angel Barrientos, 26, are both facing the charge of “fentanyl murder by delivery” in the death of Jovan Cortez. Rafay was released on a $200,000 bond, and Barrientos remains in the Harris County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg spoke to KHOU 11 about the investigation that led to the charges.

"Investigators were able to pull evidence from the victim's phone,” she explained. “They tracked the conversations between the dealer and Cortez and they found the actual drug dealer and the drug runner.”

Ogg said investigators with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office identified Rafay as the dealer who allegedly supplied Barrientos with the fentanyl-laced pill that was given to Cortez. A transaction for the pill was conducted on a money transfer app, according to investigators.

Juan Jose Resendez, age 45, was arrested recently for delivering 1100 fentanyl pills to an undercover informant working with the Harris County Sheriff Department Violent Crime Unit. Authorities said the 1100 fentanyl pills Resendez sold to the informant could easily kill thousands of people in the fabulous Bayou City of Houston. Investigators are seeking additional suspects who work for Resendez who sling the deadly fentanyl drugs in Southwest Houston near Kirkwood Street.

Determined to nail dope pushers local narcotic officers and federal drug agents are pounding shoe leather on the streets and using hi-tech surveillance equipment to remove as much fentanyl and other major drugs off the streets in the Houston-Harris County Texas region.

For at least six months Resendez sold approximately 1100 fentanyl pills to informants in Southwest Houston. Following multiple sales to the informant Resendiz was charged with possession with intent to sell fentanyl. He was later released on a $50,000 bond pending the outcome of his case.

In July, the Biden Administration announced several new tactics to try and combat the influx of fentanyl into the country. In the announcement, the White House said it would call on federal agencies to increase penalties on fentanyl traffickers.

Well-known organizations, like the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), have pushed back against this approach. In a statement responding to the White House's proposed solutions, Maritza Perez Medina, the director of federal affairs at DPA, said similar proposals have not worked.

"The Administration is doubling down on the same failed drug war tactics of the past, rather than prioritizing the public health strategies that will save lives," she said. "We know that supply-side strategies and criminalization only exacerbate negative health outcomes and create further barriers to treatment, housing, and stability."

Perez explained that the focus should include more research into health services.

"With thousands of lives at stake, the Administration and Congress must focus on evidence-based solutions that save lives, rather than disproven tactics as a false promise of change," she said.

Reporter C. Walker can be reached at newsjournalist360@gmail.com