A Williamson County man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for selling fentanyl, which resulted in a deadly overdose. The case is the county’s first murder prosecution under Texas’ new fentanyl legislation. Marek Dillard received this sentence on March 3 for the death of Remington Allison, 22, who died in Leander in September 2023 as a result of a fentanyl overdose. According to CBS Austin, the case is the first application of House Bill 6, which went into force on September 1, 2023, and allows for the filing of murder charges against individuals who distribute fentanyl, resulting in death.
“By sharing this outcome, we hope to send a clear message to dealers in our area: if you distribute fentanyl and endanger someone’s life, you will be held accountable,” the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement obtained by CBS Austin. On September 21, 2023, deputies responded to Allison’s death scene, where evidence indicated that he had been given fentanyl-laced narcotics. Authorities deepened their investigation and obtained a murder warrant for Dillard on February 6, 2024, which resulted in his arrest three days later.
An affidavit revealed additional data, including a video of Allison “exhibiting signs of being under the influence of narcotics,” according to KVUE. The footage reportedly showed Allison in a “drug-induced daze” before collapsing on the kitchen floor, where his life ended. A search of Allison’s phone revealed a text discussion between him and Dillard from the day before, in which Dillard offered him 25 “blues,” a slang word for fentanyl pills.
The ramifications of this case are unfolding under the shadow of House Bill 6, signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott in June 2023, which “creates a criminal offense of murder for supplying fentanyl that results in death, enhances the criminal penalty for the manufacturing or delivery of fentanyl, and requires deaths caused by fentanyl to be designated as fentanyl toxicity or fentanyl poisoning on a death certificate,” according to KVUE. Following this judicial precedent, the sheriff’s office reaffirmed its commitment to holding fentanyl distributors accountable and protecting communities from the lethal impacts of this substance.
