United States Drug Enforcement Administration

DALLAS, TX — Earnest Ray Miller a.k.a. “Q”, a 54-year-old Dallas man, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison on drug and gun charges on July 24.

Miller is a multi-convicted felon who operated a drug distribution business out of the Cole Manor Motel previously located near Dallas Love Field. The hotel was demolished on June 17, following the federal criminal investigation and a criminal nuisance lawsuit filed by the City of Dallas after the joint investigation revealed that the motel had become a notorious hub for drug trafficking, violent crime and prostitution.

“Drug trafficking and its frequent companion, drug-related violence, threaten the health and safety of every single one of us,” said Joseph B. Tucker, Special Agent in Charge of DEA’s Dallas Field Division. “Mr. Miller’s sentence of 25 years holds him directly responsible for his intended actions and has undoubtedly saved lives, with a weapon off the streets and drugs that will never find a life to destroy.”

According to court documents, Drug Enforcement Administration agents began investigating drug dealing activity at the Cole Manor Motel, formerly located at 7002 Harry Hines Boulevard in Dallas in December 2024. Miller admitted that the Cole Manor Motel was a location where people habitually went to engage in criminal activity to include the distribution and purchase of controlled substances, unlawful possession of firearms, assaults, prostitution, and other crimes. 

Miller admitted that during the drug conspiracy he utilized multiple rooms within the motel, to cut, package, and distribute quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, marijuana, and other controlled substances to numerous customers daily. “Rules” were sometimes posted inside motel rooms that customers were expected to abide by.

Court records further revealed that on Feb.19, 2025, law enforcement agents executed search warrants at multiple Cole Manor Motel rooms. In one of Miller’s rooms, agents recovered digital scales, baggies, and distribution quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine as well as $19,372 in drug proceeds and multiple firearms. 

In October 2025, Miller pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance (fentanyl) and one count of possessing a firearm by a convicted felon. United States Federal District Judge Karen Gren Scholer sentenced him to 300 months in prison. The Drug Enforcement Administration Dallas Field Division conducted the investigation.