An Eastern Oregon man has been slapped with a hefty prison sentence after his arrest in connection with a fatal drug overdose incident on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Ulises Echevarria-Molina, a 40-year-old from Pendleton, won’t be dealing drugs for a while as he was sentenced to 75 months in the big house plus five years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon announced.
In May 2021, tragedy struck at the Wildhorse Casino in Pendleton, where a suspected fatal drug overdose led Umatilla Tribal Police to discover counterfeit Oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl. The toxicology report confirmed the presence of fentanyl and cocaine in the victim's system. Echevarria-Molina was pegged as the source of the deadly supply, and when police caught up to him three days later, he wasn't empty-handed. The dealer had about 1,500 fentanyl pills and a hefty $9,000 cash on him at the time of his arrest, according to the Justice Department.
A further search of Echevarria-Molina’s residence turned up roughly 24 pounds of methamphetamine, two pounds of cocaine, another 1,500 fentanyl pills, and $18,000 in cash, scales, and packaging materials. Initially charged in May 2021 with distribution or possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, he ultimately pleaded guilty last year to possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine.
This case is the result of an investigation by the Blue Mountain Enforcement Narcotics Team (BENT), FBI, and Umatilla Tribal Police, with the prosecution led by Cassady Adams, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. BENT is known as a High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force, which includes detectives from multiple local law enforcement agencies who are working together to prevent incidents like the one at the Wildhorse Casino. As the investigation concluded, the combination of controlled substances found in the toxicology results meant that Echevarria-Molina was not charged with connection to the overdose death.
