Terry Wayne Franklin and Mary Danielle Sheppard have been sentenced to a combined 45 years in prison for their roles in distributing fentanyl, which resulted in the death of a victim. The sentences were announced by Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, following rulings by United States District Judge James M. Moody Jr.
Franklin, aged 39 from Conway, was sentenced to 25 years followed by three years of supervised release. His wife, Sheppard, aged 36 also from Conway, received a 20-year sentence with an identical period of supervised release. Both sentences were issued this week with no possibility of parole under federal law.
Jonathan D. Ross stated, "This couple made the decision to sell pills containing a deadly, illegal drug, unfortunately resulting in yet another loss of life from the use of fentanyl." He further emphasized that such actions will lead to prosecution and severe penalties.
The charges stemmed from an incident on May 15, 2022, when the Greenbrier Police Department responded to a suspected overdose at a residence. The victim later died at a hospital in Conway after ingesting blue pills marked “M30,” identified as fentanyl during investigations conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and local police departments.
The investigation uncovered text messages between Franklin and the victim about purchasing fentanyl pills. Franklin instructed the victim to pay through Sheppard’s CashApp account and directed them to collect the pills from her. Surveillance footage confirmed an encounter between Sheppard and the victim on the night they obtained the pills and subsequently died.
Following this event, on September 16, 2022, officers stopped Franklin and Sheppard during a traffic stop in Nacogdoches, Texas. Officers found numerous fentanyl-containing pills during this stop as they traveled north toward Arkansas.
The case involved collaboration among multiple law enforcement agencies including the DEA and police departments from Greenbrier, Conway, and Nacogdoches. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Gordon and Reese Lancaster prosecuted this case.