Keithrick Carter, 22, was arrested on May 21, 2025, pleaded guilty on Feb. 19 and was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman, the release said. He is a drug dealer who primarily sold blue “M30” fentanyl pills and marijuana, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The minimum federal sentence for distributing fentanyl resulting in death is 20 years, according to the federal criminal code.
The investigation began after a 24-year-old Leander man was found dead in his apartment on March 23, 2023, the release said. It did not include the man’s name. Leander police found an unlabeled pill bottle containing one blue “M30” pill and marijuana in the man’s bathroom, the release said. Autopsy results showed the man died from fentanyl poisoning, according to the release. A review of the man’s phone revealed a text exchange between him and Carter, the release said.
“This administration has made clear that protecting Americans from the fentanyl crisis is a national priority, and we are at the front of that fight every day in this district,” U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons said in the release. “Keithrick Carter knowingly sold poison in a pill bottle to a young man in our community. He was held directly responsible for that young man’s death and will now spend the next 20 years of his life in federal prison.
“However, no measure of manmade justice can assuage the pain felt by the victim’s family in this case,” Simmons said. “The best we can do is to remove the defendant from society so that he cannot inflict the same level of grief on any other families in our community.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Leander Police Department and the Austin Police Department investigated the case.