Pasco Man Gets 20 Years For Selling Fentanyl, Causing Death

PASCO COUNTY, FL — A 28-year-old Pasco County man will spend 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to selling fentanyl that caused an overdose death.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber sentenced Jared Collins to prison. Collins pleaded guilty on April 27.

According to the plea agreement, on Dec. 16, 2019, Collins distributed narcotics to a person in Wesley Chapel who injected the narcotics and died.

The victim's family discovered the body and called 911. Deputies from the Pasco Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene and found a hypodermic syringe and a plastic bag, both of which tested positive for fentanyl. Deputies also recovered a cellphone that showed Collins sold narcotics to the victim earlier that day.

The Medical Examiner’s Office for Pasco and Pinellas Counties determined that the victim died of fentanyl toxicity.

The next day, deputies arrested Collins as he was attempting to sell drugs again. Two syringes were found in his car and two hypodermic syringes and a spoon with residue were found in his pocket, all of which tested positive for fentanyl.

A federal search warrant was executed at Collins’ home, and deputies recovered drug paraphernalia, empty capsules containing traces of fentanyl, assorted spoons, straws, clear baggies and approximately 20 syringes from his bedroom.

On March 26, 2020, after bonding out of state custody, Collins again distributed fentanyl, this time to a law enforcement confidential source. The substance Collins distributed tested positive for fentanyl.