United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ST. LOUIS – Thomas John Rowland, 30, of O’Fallon, Missouri, was charged by a federal complaint today with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. 

According to the complaint, on July 16, 2020, officers of the O’Fallon, Missouri, Police Department were investigating a felony leaving the scene of an accident and endangering the welfare of a child case. Victims observed a black 2016 GMC Yukon registered to Rowland occupied by a male driver and a minor child strike numerous mailboxes after the vehicle left the roadway. 

An officer went to Rowland’s residence to continue the investigation and made contact with Rowland and his three-year-old son in the driveway. While talking with Rowland, the officer believed that he was under the influence of opioids, as his pupils were pinpoint, his speech was slurred and he almost fell asleep standing up. Rowland’s son mentioned that “his brother” (six years of age) was inside the house.

While inside looking for the child, the officer located numerous capsules of what appeared to be heroin/fentanyl throughout the residence. Many of the capsules were strewn across the kitchen floor and the dresser in his bedroom. A search warrant was obtained resulting in the seizure of approximately 731 heroin/fentanyl capsules including 96 capsules in a plastic bag on a shelf in the closet of the master bedroom and 458 capsules in a partially open kitchen drawer.

The child was found asleep on a couch in the living room. The child was left unsupervised by Rowland mere feet away from the capsules of fentanyl strewn on the kitchen floor, thus making the deadly drug readily accessible to the child.

The Drug Enforcement Administration St. Louis Division, St. Charles County Regional Drug Task Force and the O’Fallon Police Department are investigating these current charges. 

A criminal complaint is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.