Source: Office of United States Attorneys
ALPINE, Texas – A Colorado man was sentenced in a federal court in Alpine to 240 months in prison for distributing fentanyl to a Texas resident.
According to court documents, Douglas Christopher Steele, 54, of Denver, engaged in a text message conversation with a man living Alpine on Jan. 29, 2024. Steele agreed to mail 20 fentanyl pills to the man’s work address. Steele notified the man that he’d mailed the package of fentanyl on Feb. 2 and, on Feb. 5, the man’s co-worker received the FedEx delivery. Through additional text message exchanges, Steele and the man discussed how strong the fentanyl was and, just after midnight on Feb. 6, 2024, the man messaged Steele telling him that he nearly overdosed. Later that morning, the man was found unresponsive in the restroom at this place of work. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
A Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Texas Department of Public Safety (TX DPS) Criminal Investigation Division (CID) investigation revealed the envelopes at the man’s residence that had been mailed from Steele’s Colorado residence, and eventually the cell phone messages between the man and Steele.
Steele was indicted on May 9, 2024 in Pecos for two counts related to fentanyl distribution and was arrested in Denver on May 11. He pleaded guilty Nov. 18, 2024.
Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas made the announcement.
HSI and TX DPS CID investigated the case with assistance from the Alpine Police Department, Brewster County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Greenbaum prosecuted the case.
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