Guilty Plea from Dealer Who Sold Fatal Dose of Fentanyl
ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Peters, Missouri, on Friday admitted selling the fentanyl that killed one woman and sent another to the hospital in one day in 2019.
Zachary Hovis, 24, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to two counts of distribution of fentanyl. Hovis admitted supplying fentanyl to a woman in the parking lot of a country club in Weldon Spring, Missouri, on Nov. 16, 2019. The victim drove to a nearby business parking lot, where she was found unconscious about an hour and 15 minutes later. Despite a bystander’s attempt to aid the victim by administering naloxone, the victim died. A medical examiner later determined that the immediate cause of the victim’s death was fentanyl intoxication.
Later that day, Hovis supplied fentanyl to another person. That woman would testify that she wanted to buy oxycodone from Hovis and that Hovis said he was supplying oxycodone, Hovis’ plea agreement says. That woman later went to the hospital, believing she was overdosing. She was treated and released.
Hovis is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 3. Each charge is punishable by a prison term of up to 20 years, a fine of up to $1 million or both prison and a fine.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and the St. Charles County, Mo., Drug Task Force investigated the case.
