Pasco armed fentanyl dealer gets life in prison for overdose death

TAMPA, Fla. – An armed fentanyl dealer has been sentenced to life for causing a fatal overdose.

Justin Kelly, 36, of New Port Richey, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell to concurrent terms of life in prison for conspiracy to distribute 40 grams of fentanyl resulting in death and distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, and 15 years imprisonment for three counts of possession/distribution of fentanyl and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

A federal jury found Kelly guilty on November 16, 2022.

According to evidence presented at trial, Kelly was a supplier of fentanyl in Pasco County. He used addicts to sell the drug for him and yielded profits of thousands of dollars per day.

In the early hours of November 18, 2020, “E.L.” was found face down in his kitchen by his wife while his stepchildren were asleep a few feet away. Detectives from the Pasco Sheriff’s Office said they learned that a dealer named Steven Kinney had supplied fentanyl to the victim.

“Kinney identified Kelly as his supplier. Search warrants executed at Kelly’s motel room and a storage unit resulted in the seizures of additional fentanyl, cash, kilogram presses, digital scales, and an M&P 15 rifle. Cellphone records corroborated that Kelly was the supplier of the fentanyl that Kinney had distributed to “E.L.” before he died,” said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

Kinney previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl. He was sentenced on January 4, 2023, to four years and nine months in federal prison.