A middle-aged El Paso man described as a “prominent fentanyl dealer” was recently sentenced to more than 10 years in prison as a federal crackdown on the potentially deadly drug continues.
Gary Everett Rinker, 56, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to selling fentanyl pills out of an El Paso hotel room to an informant as part of an investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, federal court documents stated.
Rinker was sentenced last month to more than 10 years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release as part of a plea agreement that dismissed two counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
“This defendant was a prominent fentanyl dealer in the El Paso community who will spend the next decade off our streets, largely due to his extensive drug-related criminal history dating back to 2007,” U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas said in a statement.
According to a complaint affidavit filed by an FBI agent, Rinker sold fentanyl pills to an informant on three occasions last June during undercover drug buys at a hotel room that were audio and video recorded by federal agents. The name of the hotel was not disclosed.