A Boulder man pleaded guilty to two charges surrounding a fentanyl-caused death last year. He now faces nine years in state prison.

The Boulder County Drug Task Force began investigating a fentanyl death that had occurred in Boulder on April 25, 2022. Their official investigation began three days later, according to a news release from the 20th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Through the probe, BCDTF identified the 26-year-old Terrelle Lucero as the person who sold the fentanyl to the victim. Task force investigators then decided to “engage in a controlled buy of fentanyl from this defendant,” according to the release.

Officers contacted Lucero at the location of the controlled buy on May 26, 2022. They placed him under custody and searched his vehicle. In it, they found a small black scale with white residue and a handgun.

Over 75 fentanyl pills were later found on the defendant’s person after being searched at the jail, the district attorney’s office said.

Lucero was charged with possession, possession with intent to distribute, possession of a weapon by a previous offender, two special drug offender charges, introduction of contraband and driving under restraint on June 1, 2022.

The office later filed a charge of manslaughter because Lucero was thought to have caused the death of the victim through the selling of fentanyl.

Lucero plead guilty to manslaughter and possession with intent to manufacture or distribute a controlled substance. He was sentenced to nine years in a state prison as part of his plea deal.

The victim’s family openly supports the plea deal and sentencing, according to the release.

“They have been shattered and devastated by the loss of their only son,” the district attorney’s office said. “They stated to the Court that they were grateful that law enforcement pursued this case and that the sentence imposed by the Court would take a drug dealer off of the streets.”

There were 17 fentanyl overdose deaths in Denver in 2017. In 2022, there were 920.

“I greatly appreciate the effort that the Drug Task Force and our prosecution team dedicated to this tragic case. Fentanyl dealers must be held fully accountable for the destruction they inflict,” said District Attorney Michael Dougherty. “This sentence does that, but it does not bring back the victim. As a community and as a nation, we must continue working to reduce drug-related deaths.”