MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee man has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for selling a deadly dose of the opioid fentanyl.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Memphis said Friday that 32-year-old Cortez Armstrong pleaded guilty in September of distributing a dose of fentanyl that resulted in a fatal overdose. A judge gave Armstrong the mandatory minimum sentence Wednesday.
Prosecutors say the body of 21-year-old Zachary Rutherford was found outside a gas station in Memphis in October 2016. Armstrong, of Memphis, was charged in June 2017.
Authorities say he died of an overdose of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is more powerful than heroin and morphine.
A news release says the Department of Justice has taken an “aggressive approach” in prosecuting those who sell opioids that lead to death.
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