Madison Dare Winslow, Fentanyl Trafficking, North Carolina 2025

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Lincolnton Woman Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Trafficking Fentanyl Linked to Teenager’s Fatal Overdose

A 26-year-old woman from Lincolnton, North Carolina, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for selling fentanyl that caused a teenage victim to fatally overdose, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Madison Dare Winslow was sentenced on October 2, 2025, to 15 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for distribution of fentanyl.

The crime occurred in and around Catawba County. On February 14, 2022, Winslow sold fentanyl-laced pills to a 17-year-old that were pressed to appear as prescription pills containing oxycodone hydrochloride. On February 16, 2022, the minor ingested one or more of the pills sold to him by Winslow, causing the victim to fatally overdose.

Court records show that law enforcement interviewed Winslow regarding her connection with the victim’s fatal overdose. Winslow admitted to selling the pills to the victim and to knowing that the pills likely contained fentanyl.

Winslow will remain in federal custody until she is transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick J. Miller of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin and remains the deadliest drug threat in the United States. Laboratory testing indicates 7 out of 10 pills seized by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) contain a lethal dose of fentanyl.