A St. Louis County man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after admitting to selling fentanyl that resulted in the death of a local woman. U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk handed down the sentence on Thursday.
Forrest L. Smith, 37, pleaded guilty in May to one count of distribution of a controlled substance and two counts of distribution of fentanyl in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.
According to Smith’s plea agreement, the victim was found dead in her bedroom on October 5, 2021. Investigators discovered four capsules containing fentanyl at the scene and messages on her phone indicating she had purchased drugs from Smith through an intermediary the previous day.
In November 2021, an undercover officer began communicating with Smith by text message and bought fentanyl from him on November 8 and again eight days later.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported seizing more than 55 million fentanyl pills and nearly 8,000 pounds of fentanyl last year nationwide. DEA testing revealed that about half of these pills contained potentially lethal doses of the drug. The agency also reported over 258,000 opioid overdose deaths between 2013 and 2021, mainly linked to illicitly manufactured fentanyl (https://www.dea.gov/onepill).
The case was investigated by the FBI and Town and Country Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Granger prosecuted the case.
