A Richlands man is facing serious charges after deputies say he sold fentanyl that led to a deadly overdose.
According to arrest warrants issued by the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office, 26-year-old Anthony Joseph Dupcza was arrested Wednesday, April 29. He is charged with felony death by distribution, possession with intent to manufacture, sell, and deliver a Schedule II controlled substance, as well as selling and delivering a Schedule II controlled substance.
Arrest warrants state the charges stem from an incident on March 31, 2025. Investigators allege Dupcza sold fentanyl to Taiye Reid, and that the ingestion of the drug resulted in Reid’s death.
Deputies also say Dupcza possessed fentanyl with the intent to sell or distribute it.
Dupcza is being held without bond at the Onslow County Jail. He is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday, April 30.
HAMPSTEAD, N.C. (WECT) – A Hampstead man was arrested in March following the death of an 18-year-old woman from a suspected fentanyl overdose, according to the Pender County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO).
Daniel Blaine Joye was arrested for death by distribution on March 12 after he allegedly delivered fentanyl that resulted in a fatal overdose.
Daniel Blaine Joye(Pender County Sheriff’s Office)
According to PCSO and available search warrants, deputies and EMS personnel responded to a residence on Mullein Drive in Hampstead on Feb. 27 after receiving a 911 call about an unconscious woman. The victim was identified as Shelby Slye of Hampstead.
A witness told dispatch she saw a man dragging a woman toward a car. The witness, a nursing student, began CPR on Slye.
Warrants state Joye told deputies he found Slye unresponsive but breathing and tried to get her into a car to take her to the hospital. He said he noticed blue discoloration around her lips and shallow breathing. Slye was transported to Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, where she was pronounced dead on Feb. 28.
Warrants also state Joye allegedly told deputies at the scene that Slye had a history of narcotics abuse and had consumed a fifth of liquor during the day. However, hospital employees later told detectives Slye’s toxicology report showed no signs of alcohol use, according to records.
Detectives served a search warrant at the Mullein Drive residence on March 1. During the search, Joye was found in possession of fentanyl and was arrested. The fentanyl was packaged in wax paper bindles stamped “We The Best.”
A second search warrant led to the seizure of additional fentanyl packaged in the same bindles, empty bindles with the same stamp, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and cell phones belonging to Joye and Slye, according to records.
The warrant states a woman at the residence told detectives Joye routinely purchases fentanyl and other narcotics and provided fentanyl to Slye on a regular basis. Records state the woman said she believed Joye was Slye’s source of illegal narcotics.
Detectives attended Slye’s autopsy on March 3 at Onslow Memorial Hospital. The search warrant states presumptive fentanyl urine test showed a positive indication of fentanyl in Slye’s urine.
On March 12, detectives secured additional charges against Joye related to the overdose death. Joye faces the following charges:
Felony death by distribution
Possess with intent to manufacture, sell, deliver Schedule II (three counts)
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A “prolific” Franklin County fentanyl dealer who was linked to a drug death and fentanyl marketed to children was sentenced to at least 10 years in federal prison this week, federal prosecutors said Friday.
Ahmod Talley was arrested in June 2025 after he was pulled over and found with “perversely labeled” fentanyl with terms like “Try This” and “Life Support,” a U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina news release said.
Ahmod Maliq Talley (inset) in a photo from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Franklin County Sheriff’s Office file photo by CBS 17
Talley sold fentanyl to the overdose victim just three days before the death, and the “Try This” stamped fentanyl was also found at the overdose death scene, the news release said.
Later, Raleigh and Franklinton raids of Talley’s home and his grandmother’s house led to the discovery of guns and fentanyl “marketed at children” stamped “Goosebumps,” prosecutors said.
“This sentence sends a message, understand clearly: when you sell deadly poison to our kids and families just to make a little bit of money, you will pay serious consequences,” U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle said in the news release.
In addition to fentanyl, prosecutors said raids of homes in Raleigh and Franklinton discovered cocaine, heroin, and marijuana.
A federal order along with Talley’s conviction also said officials would seize guns, including:
Glock 23 pistol
Kahr P380 pistol
Delton 5.56 rifle
All ammo associated with each firearm
Talley’s guns and drugs were found in homes in Franklinton and Raleigh in mid-January 2025, according to an order of forfeiture in a plea deal with the prosecution.
As part of a plea agreement, officials said Talley pleaded guilty to:
conspiracy to sell and possess with the intent to sell heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine
possession with intent to sell heroin and fentanyl
possession with intent to sell cocaine
two counts of possession of a gun in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime
“This prolific drug dealer earned every day of his prison sentence, and the residents of Eastern North Carolina will be safer while he’s locked up,” Boyle said in the release.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations worked on the investigation into Talley, the news release said.
Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II sentenced Talley in the case on Tuesday. Court officials recommended that Talley serve time at the Federal Prison in Butner.
CRAVEN COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) – A Pamlico County man and woman are in jail under multi-million dollar bonds after their arrest on Wednesday for drug trafficking.
The Neuse River Narcotics Task Force stopped a vehicle on U.S. 70 near the Tuscarora Rhems Road exit.
Inside were Choncey Sawyer, Jenna Barnes, and a three-year-old child, along with fentanyl and cocaine, according to deputies.
Sawyer, 34, of Bayboro, is charged with two felony counts trafficking fentanyl, felony conspiracy to traffic fentanyl, felony possession with intent to manufacture, sale, & deliver fentanyl, felony possession with intent to manufacture, sale, & deliver cocaine, felony maintaining a vehicle for sale of controlled substance, and felony exposing a child to control substances.
The 30-year-old Barnes, of Grantsboro, is charged with two felony counts trafficking fentanyl, felony conspiracy to traffic fentanyl, felony possession with intent to manufacture, sale, & deliver fentanyl, felony possession with intent to manufacture, sale, & deliver cocaine, felony maintaining a vehicle for sale of controlled substance, and felony exposing a child to control substances.
The two were charged under a new law that makes it a felony for anyone to allow someone under 16 to be exposed to drugs.
Sawyer, who was already awaiting trial on other drug charges, was given a $4-million bond, while Barnes is being held on a $2-million bond.
The child was turned over to family members, according to deputies.
