Don Paul Rickman, Fentanyl Overdose Death, Texas 2024

Local Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Fentanyl Overdose Death

A Longview man, Don Paul Rickman, 39, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for selling fake prescription pills containing fentanyl, which resulted in a fatal overdose, announced Eastern District of Texas U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs.

On September 12, 2024, U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker imposed a 240-month prison sentence on Rickman, who had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl resulting in death.

The incident occurred when Rickman sold the victim what were purported to be prescription pills. The victim’s mother later found him dead in his bedroom. An autopsy confirmed the cause of death as a fentanyl overdose.

Rickman admitted to selling the pills, which were later found to be laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has issued a public safety alert warning Americans of the alarming increase in the lethality and availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine. The public safety alert coincides with the launch of DEA’s One Pill Can Kill public awareness campaign to educate the public of the dangers of counterfeit pills.

This case was investigated by the DEA, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), and Longview Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lucas Machicek.

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