ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis County man appeared in U.S. District Court on Thursday to be sentenced for selling fake pain pills containing fentanyl that killed a St. Charles County man last year.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said Andrew Kendall Edwards, 27, pleaded guilty this past May to one count of distribution of fentanyl and one count of possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl.
Edwards admitted selling the fake pills to the victim, his friend and coworker, on Aug. 28, 2022. After the victim was found dead, authorities discovered four tablets in his bedroom, two of which were imitation Oxycodone tablets containing fentanyl.
Members of the St. Charles County Regional Drug Task Force also found the victim’s phone and saw text messages between the victim and Edwards.
Authorities used the victim’s phone to arrange a meeting on Aug. 30, 2022, to purchase drugs.
When Edwards arrived at the designated meeting spot, he was arrested. Edwards had tablets in his possession, and additional tablets, along with a Glock .40 pistol, were in a bag at a nearby building where he worked. Some of the tablets also contained fentanyl.
Edwards later admitted selling the tablets to the victim on several occasions.
A U.S. District Court judge sentenced Edwards to 15 years in federal prison.