Las Vegas man sentenced for distributing fentanyl, resulting in Utah woman’s death

A Las Vegas man was sentenced Tuesday to 17 years in prison in connection with the death of a Utah woman who died after taking oxycodone pills containing fentanyl mailed by him.

Bryan Walter McMahan, 41, also will serve three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $8,888.74 in restitution to the victim’s family by U.S. District Court Judge David Barlow, according to a U.S. attorney’s office release.

According to court documents, McMahan went to a post office in Las Vegas on Oct. 7, 2023, and mailed an envelope addressed to the victim with at least four pills containing fentanyl. Over the next three days, McMahan and the victim exchanged multiple text messages as the victim awaited the arrival of the package.

On Oct. 10, 2023, the package arrived and on the following day, McMahan attempted to reach out to the victim multiple times. The woman was found dead inside her room.

The padded mailing envelope bearing McMahan’s name, return address and tracking number that he provided the victim were next to her body. Underneath the victim, law enforcement located three small blue pills later confirmed to contain fentanyl.

“A young woman lost her life as a result of reckless criminal conduct, and no amount of imprisonment can change the course of that tragic outcome,” said U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak of the District of Utah. “It is important to remember that just one pill can kill. There is no way of knowing what controlled substances are contained in counterfeit pharmaceuticals for sale on the illicit market.”

The case was investigated jointly by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Layton City Police Department in Utah.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah prosecuted the case.

Contact Tony Garcia at tgarcia@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307. Follow @TonyGLVNews on X.