Memphis, TN – A federal judge has handed down a harsh sentence to a local man for his role in distributing deadly heroin and carfentanil.
Steven McCurdy, 46, aka ‘Stephen McCurdy’, aka ‘Kroger Man’, aka ‘Plug Tunchii’, was sentenced to 292 months’ incarceration, followed by a three-year term of supervised release, for his involvement in the distribution of heroin and carfentanil that resulted in a fatal overdose.
The sentence was handed down on July 17, 2026, after a three-day jury trial found McCurdy guilty of distributing heroin and carfentanil. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Byhalia Police Department.
On May 11, 2020, victim W.B. and a witness purchased what they believed to be heroin from McCurdy, who the witness knew as ‘Kroger Man’. The victim and witness then went to the witness’s home in Byhalia, Mississippi, where they took the drugs recently sold to them by McCurdy.
Later that night, the witness awoke and found W.B. unresponsive. The witness called 911, and first responders arrived within minutes, where W.B. was pronounced deceased on the scene. An autopsy was conducted by the Mississippi Medical Examiner’s Office, which determined the cause of death for the victim to be a combination of heroin and carfentanil toxicity.
McCurdy, who admitted to selling marijuana and narcotics during his arrest, claimed no one had overdosed on his products. However, a witness called by the Government during trial identified McCurdy as the person they knew as ‘Kroger Man’, aka ‘Plug Tunchii’, an individual who had sold them narcotics around the time of May 2020.
U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant stated, ‘Distribution of illegal narcotics is NOT a victimless crime and poses an immense threat to public safety.’ The U.S. Attorney’s Office emphasized that the sentence sends a clear message that individuals who profit from poisoning our communities will be held accountable.
Assistant United States Attorneys Bryce H. Phillips and Wendy K. Caceres, and Special Assistant United States Attorney Erica Ronquillo, of the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.
Key Facts
- State: Tennessee
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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