(The Center Square) – A Portland, Oregon, man faces federal charges for distributing counterfeit Oxycodone pills containing fentanyl that caused the overdose death of a Portland teenager.
Nasir Overton, 20, has been charged by criminal complaint with one count of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, resulting in death, and distributing and possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl, resulting in death, according to the U.S. Attorney of the District of Oregon’s office.
In September, a Portland Police Bureau detective responded to a local hospital after receiving a report of a 15-year-old who had fatally overdosed on fentanyl.
The detective learned that the previous day, the teenager overdosed after ingesting a single counterfeit Oxycodone pill containing fentanyl. He was pronounced dead four days later.
An investigation into the case found that the teen got the lethal pill from a friend who had bought two pills from Overton; the friend went by the alias “Noni.”
Law enforcement arrested Overton on Thursday last week. He made his first appearance in federal court before a U.S. Magistrate Judge. Overton was ordered detained pending more court proceedings.
Overton faces a maximum sentence of life in federal prison if convicted.
Homeland Security Investigations, PPB, and the Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Interdiction Task Force investigated the case. Scott M. Kerin, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, prosecuted it.
The overdose comes as industrial levels of fentanyl are in Oregon, as The Center Square previously reported.
In one May weekend alone, Portland, Oregon, saw eight drug overdose deaths, six of which were most likely fentanyl-related, according to The Associated Press. Additionally, overdose deaths involving fentanyl more than doubled in Oregon, from 226 in 2020 to 508 in 2021, according to the report.
The increasing fentanyl presence in Oregon comes as the state liberalized its drug laws. In 2020, Oregon voters passed Measure 110, decriminalizing possession of small amounts of hard drugs, including heroin, meth, cocaine, and fentanyl. Since the law took effect, drug overdose deaths have increased, as has homelessness, according to Stateline. The state has also endured a drop in convention and hotel bookings in response to the law, the report said.
Fentanyl is currently the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 49, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Drug dealers sometimes lace other drugs with fentanyl. This even puts those who do not plan to consume it at risk.
“It’s crazy out there,” Rick Treleaven, the chief executive officer at BestCare Treatment Services, told Oregon Public Broadcasting in May. “This is a very dangerous time to be a drug addict in Oregon.”
