ROSWELL, Ga. — The U.S. Department of Justice said a federal judge sentenced 33-year-old Hubert Nathans to 12 years in federal prison for selling fake Roxicodone pills containing fentanyl to multiple people in Roswell between 2017 and 2018.
According to federal officials, the pills led to the overdose death of a buyer and seriously injured another.
Nathans’ drug supplier, Edward Culton, was also sentenced to 18 years in federal prison on fentanyl possession and aiding fentanyl distribution charges earlier this year.
Federal documents revealed the Roswell Police Department opened an investigation into the two in 2017. Roswell Police officers eventually confirmed Nathans was selling the fake pills.
“Each and every pill distributed by Nathans and Culton in our community represented the potential for another life lost,” said Roswell Police Chief James Conroy.
In February 2018, federal agents arrested Nathans and Culton, when they found almost 1,000 pills containing fentanyl in a search.
Authorities said that's when the investigation revealed Nathan sold the pills to a 24-year-old, who overdosed on the drug.
According to the DEA, over 100,000 people died of drug overdoses with fentanyl being the cost of most deaths. "That’s more than double the occupancy of Truist Park,” said Robert J. Murphy, DEA Atlanta Special Agent.
Nathans was convicted on charges of conspiring to distribute and possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl that caused overdoses, resulting in death and serious bodily injury, according to federal documents.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs here.
