United States Drug Enforcement Administration

EL PASO, Texas – An El Paso man was sentenced in a federal court in El Paso to 130 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

According to court documents, Gary Everett Rinker, 56, sold approximately 200 pills containing 19.8 grams of fentanyl to a buyer at an El Paso hotel. The criminal complaint filed July 12, 2023 alleged that over a separate three-day period Rinker sold quantities of counterfeit Oxycodone Hydrochloride 30 mg tablets to the buyer, totaling approximately 55 grams of fentanyl.

Rinker was arrested in July 2023 and pleaded guilty Nov. 1, 2023.

“Our Fentanyl Overdose Response Team (FORT) does not just investigate fatalities caused by fentanyl,” said Towanda Thorne-James, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s El Paso Division. “By putting Mr. Rinker behind bars, FORT worked proactively to potentially save lives. Rinker was not the first fentanyl dealer targeted by our FORT, and he won’t be the last.” The FBI and DEA investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Watts prosecuted the case.

“This defendant was a prominent fentanyl dealer in the El Paso community who will spend the next decade off our streets, largely due to his extensive drug-related criminal history dating back to 2007,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas. “I commend the joint efforts of our partners at FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as the dedicated attorneys of the Western District who continue to aggressively prosecute these offenders.”

“Fentanyl continues to be a considerable threat to our communities, ending the lives of our neighbors, friends and loved ones who, in many cases, aren’t even aware they’re taking the drug,” said Special Agent in Charge John Morales for the FBI El Paso Field Office. “FBI El Paso and our Drug Enforcement Administration partners are working together, will come after anyone supplying poison to innocent lives, and bring them to justice.”

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