Two men who distributed fentanyl, leading a 17-year-old boy to fatally overdose, are facing more than 40 years in prison combined.
Tecose Dchaz Martin, 38, of Mesquite, faces 30 years in federal prison for distributing the deadly fentanyl, according to a Department of Justice press release. Connor Miller, 22, of Richardson, faces nearly 12.5 years in prison for aiding and abetting the distribution.
Senior U.S. District Judge David Godbey sentenced both men on September 29.
“Actions that result in the loss of life will be met with the full force of justice,” said Richardson Police 1st Asst. Chief Michael Bussiere in the release. “While no sentence can undo the heartbreak suffered by the victim’s family, we hope this outcome provides some measure of accountability and peace.”
Martin pleaded guilty in July for distributing fentanyl. Miller pleaded guilty in May 2025 to aiding and abetting the distribution of fentanyl.
The Fatal Deal
Miller reportedly went with the teenage boy to buy fentanyl from the “plug” – co-defendant Jesse Medina – on January 30, 2024, according to the release. Medina reportedly agreed to sell him the pills.
Miller and the teenage boy traveled to meet Medina on Harry Hines Boulevard in Dallas. There, Medina sold them four fentanyl pills for $40. The two then traveled back to Miller’s home, where they crushed up and used the pills from Medina. After taking the fentanyl, the 17-year-old died.
“A review of the teen’s medical records revealed that he would not have died but for ingesting the fentanyl,” the release reads.
Working up the Chain
Investigators uncovered electronic evidence, tracing the pills sold by Medina to Martin – a Mesquite resident known as “Blues Man.”
“We can get rich off blues [fentanyl pills],” Martin reportedly told a person by the name Moe. Nearly 10 minutes prior, Martin had also sent a news story from Denver. Police have busted massive fentanyl mills in that area, where the Venezuelan drug trafficking cartel Tren de Aragua has been operating.
Martin reportedly purchased fentanyl pills in quantities of 1,000 for $1.50 to $1.60 per pill. He then sold the pills to lower-level dealers for higher prices, like $2 to $5 per pill.
Martin allegedly admitted that he liked to sell large quantities of fentanyl pills, citing “more chance of somebody O.D.’ing,” according to the release. Martin reportedly told officers he “didn’t really doodle in five and four” numbers of pills.
When officers arrested Martin, they found him possessing 88 fentanyl pills on his person and 805 in his apartment. They also found him with two firearms.
Martin had multiple previous felony drug convictions, according to the release. He was convicted in 2017 for manufacturing or delivering a controlled substance, for which he received a 25-year sentence. He was reportedly on parole while selling the pills to Medina and others.
“Lengthy prison sentences are one step in our continuing fight against the deadly consequences of fentanyl trafficking,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy Larson in the release. “Our efforts won’t stop until the flood of deadly drugs into our community stops.”
A Deadly Threat
Fentanyl can be deadly at amounts as small as 2 mg, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Forty-two percent of pills tested for fentanyl contained at least this amount. Drug traffickers typically distribute fentanyl by the kilogram, with one kilogram being enough to kill 500,000 people.
According to the Dallas County District Attorney’s office, fentanyl deaths decreased across the area from 2023 to 2024, but the drug still poses a serious threat.
Joseph Tucker, special agent in charge of the DEA in Dallas, called fentanyl “the single deadliest drug threat our nation has ever encountered.”
“The sentences handed down to Mr. Miller and Mr. Martin is a clear message – the production and trafficking of fentanyl will not be tolerated in our neighborhoods,” he said.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB 6 into law in 2023, enabling prosecutors to pursue murder charges for fentanyl deaths.
Prosecutors charged a Denton-area man with murder in July, after he allegedly sold fentanyl-laced heroin to a man who died of an overdose in 2024, as The Dallas Express reported at the time.
In June, a Collin County jury convicted a man of selling fentanyl-laced pills to a woman who died of an overdose in 2023, as The Dallas Express also reported. In May, a jury also convicted a McKinney woman for supplying deadly fentanyl to a teen in 2023.