TEXARKANA -- One of five defendants in a federal conspiracy case to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine has pleaded guilty.
Courtney Lewis, 37, pleaded guilty May 4 at a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge James Boone Baxter in the Texarkana Division of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, according to court documents. Sentencing is pending.
Defendant Darrell Montrell Trotter filed a notice last week of a plea agreement. A date for a hearing has not been scheduled, according to documents.
Trotter was indicted in February 2022 after a search of his home reportedly uncovered hundreds of pills that contained fentanyl but had been altered to look like prescription opioids.
A superseding indictment in October 2022 added four other defendants and an allegation the drugs were linked to a June 2022 overdose death, according to court documents.
Charges remain pending against Christopher Kyle Candelaria, aka, "Candyman," 32, Nickie Jo Mattison, 33, and Kolton Todd Saulsbury, 34, court records show. Saulsbury is currently free on a $10,000 unsecured appearance bond while the other defendants remain in custody.
The defendants who have not pleaded or announced an intention to plead guilty remain scheduled for a jury trial July 24 before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III in Texarkana's downtown federal building.
If found guilty of conspiracy to distribute the drugs with a death resulting, the defendants face a 20-year minimum with up to life in federal prison, as well as a fine up to $10 million.
If found guilty of carrying a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, they could see sentences of five years to life in federal prison. The sentences would be consecutive to any term imposed for the underlying crime.