Two alleged drug dealers are now facing serious charges in Denver after separate fatal overdoses tied to fentanyl and other drugs last year, according to police. The department identified the suspects as John Strandburg and Wayne Adams and said each is charged with distribution of fentanyl resulting in death and manslaughter. Testing by the medical examiner later found fentanyl mixed with other substances in both cases.
The charges were announced in a May 20 Facebook post from the Denver Police Department, which noted that Strandburg was arrested in late February, while Adams was taken into custody on April 15. According to the post, the Office of the Medical Examiner ruled that one victim died from the combined toxic effects of fentanyl, ketamine, and alprazolam, and the other from fentanyl, cocaine, and buprenorphine. Police urged anyone with information to contact the department's fentanyl investigations tip line or Metro Denver Crime Stoppers.
How investigators connected the cases
Strandburg had already been in the public eye earlier this year, when Denver police featured him in a high-profile "Mug Shot Monday" alert and asked for help finding him, a search detailed in a Mug Shot Monday manhunt report, as per Hoodline. Police say both overdose cases involved patient, methodical work, including interviews, forensic testing, and other investigative leads to track the source of the drugs. Detectives told the department the work was especially time-consuming because the victims could not identify who sold them the substances.
Small doses, big danger
Federal testing and public safety campaigns stress how little fentanyl it takes to be deadly, about two milligrams, roughly the size of a pencil tip, and warn that counterfeit pills are often far stronger than buyers realize. The DEA has repeatedly cautioned that many fake prescription pills on the street contain potentially lethal doses.
Those warnings have been playing out in Denver. Preliminary data indicate the city recorded 515 overdose deaths in 2025, with about two-thirds involving fentanyl, according to Axios Denver. City efforts such as broad naloxone distribution and the Roads to Recovery program are designed to reduce harm while investigators go after suspected dealers.
Legal implications
On the legal front, Colorado lawmakers in 2022 created a felony offense for drug distribution that is the proximate cause of a death, a move and rollout examined by Colorado Politics. More recently, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that juries may hear evidence about a victim's suicidal intent when deciding causation in fentanyl overdose prosecutions, as reported by Denver7. At the federal level, prosecutors have also pursued cases alleging distribution resulting in death and, in some situations, have sought lengthy prison sentences, according to recent releases from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Denver police again highlighted the department's fentanyl investigations tip line and reminded residents that Metro Denver Crime Stoppers accepts anonymous tips. The cases remain under investigation, and prosecutors have not yet announced trial dates.
