Perry man sentenced to 30 years for trafficking fentanyl linked to 15,000 ‘potential’ lethal doses
PERRY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A Perry man was sentenced to 30 years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to trafficking fentanyl, according to a news release from the Houston County District Attorney’s Office.
44-year-old Joshua James Estep admitted in Superior Court on June 12 to trafficking fentanyl and was sentenced by Judge Amy Smith to 30 years, with the first 15 years to be served in the state penitentiary. Estep was also fined $100,000 and banished from Houston County and all surrounding counties, according to the release.
The case began with an investigation by a Perry Police Department detective who suspected Estep was selling fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine in Perry, primarily from the Fairbridge Inn Express on Valley Drive.
Conner used a confidential informant to conduct controlled buys from Estep, leading to a search warrant for Estep’s hotel room. Officers found small amounts of fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine inside the room, along with packaging materials, according to the release.
Estep wasn’t in the hotel room at the time, but officers spotted a vehicle believed to be his traveling on I-75. A traffic stop turned up roughly 30 grams of fentanyl on Estep’s person, packaged for sale, according to the release. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration considers two milligrams of fentanyl a potentially lethal dose, which means Estep was carrying enough to “potentially kill 15,000 people.”
“Fentanyl is deadly in microscopic amounts, and Mr. Estep was carrying enough to devastate thousands of lives,” District Attorney Eric Edwards said in the release. “Taking him off the street is a critical win for public safety in Houston County. I want to thank Detective Aaron Conner and the entire Perry Police Department for their diligent investigation—especially the careful controlled buys and swift execution of the search warrant that secured this conviction. Their work quite literally saved lives.”
