OKLAHOMA CITY – Four Grady County residents have been sentenced to imprisonment for almost 34 years collectively for their respective roles in the distribution of fentanyl that resulted in the death of another person in Indian Country.
Dustin Duane Ellis, 32, Pamela Kathryn Payne, 39, and Sierra Cheyenne Mandrell, 30, of Chickasha, were each charged last October with one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in the overdose death of a Grady County resident on April 3, 2023.
Nichols Lance Sweeten, 27, also of Chickasha, was charged separately for his involvement in the drug conspiracy.
Ellis pleaded guilty last October, while Payne, Mandrell and Sweeten each pleaded guilty last November. As part of their pleas, Payne and Mandrell admitted distributing a substance containing fentanyl and Sweeten admitted facilitating the deal.
U.S. District Judge Jodi W. Dishman recently sentenced Ellis to serve 240 months (20 years), Payne to serve 100 months (eight years and four months), and Sweeten to serve 30 months (two and one-half years) in federal prison. Mandrell was sentenced to serve 36 months (three years) in federal prison. Each of the four defendants also will serve five years of supervised release upon their discharge from prison.
According to federal prosecutors, Payne received several counterfeit pills containing fentanyl from Ellis, her boyfriend. In turn, Payne sold six of the pills to Mandrell, who was the girlfriend of the overdose victim.
As part of the sentencings, the Court described fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, as “the single deadliest drug threat our country has ever encountered.”
“This case is yet another tragic reminder of the damage that one fentanyl-laced pill can cause,” said U.S.
Attorney Robert J. Troester.
“Ms. Mandrell is being held accountable for the poison that found its way into our neighborhoods by her hand,” said Eduard A. Chávez, special agent in charge of DEA Dallas, which oversees operations in Oklahoma.
The case was prosecuted in Oklahoma City’s federal district court because Ellis is a member of the Choctaw Nation, Payne is a member of the Chickasaw Nation, and the crimes occurred within the boundaries of the Chickasaw Nation.
Investigating the case were the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Grady County Sheriff’s Office, in collaboration with the Chickasaw Nation Office of Tribal Justice Administration.