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An Austin fentanyl dealer tied to a man's fatal overdose aboard a Capital Metro bus has been sentenced to more than 18 years in federal prison, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Daltha Ray Terrell, 31, also known as "Goo Ray," was sentenced to 220 months in prison after pleading guilty to distributing fentanyl and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas said.
Investigators linked Terrell to the December 2023 overdose using surveillance video, the victim's cell phone and Cash App records. Authorities said the man boarded a Capital Metro bus near Terrell's home after buying drugs from him. An autopsy determined the man died of fentanyl poisoning.
The investigation began in March 2023 after Terrell went to a hospital with a gunshot wound to his arm and told authorities someone had shot him. Investigators later determined he accidentally shot himself while pulling a handgun from his jacket.
A subsequent search of Terrell's home uncovered about 2,000 blue pills containing fentanyl, two handguns and a shotgun, prosecutors said. One handgun was equipped with a conversion device that allowed it to fire as a machine gun. The shotgun had been reported stolen during a home invasion about a month earlier.
Officers also searched Terrell's vehicle and found about 636 blue pills marked "M-30" and two firearms. Laboratory testing confirmed the pills contained fentanyl.
According to prosecutors, Terrell distributed more than 400 grams of fentanyl between June 2023 and his arrest in May 2024. He pleaded guilty in January.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Austin Police Department investigated the case.
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