The FBI is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a 25-year-old man wanted on a federal fentanyl trafficking charge, describing him as armed and dangerous. Tavis Lamar Chenault, who was born in Lexington and has ties to the area, is accused of participating in fentanyl trafficking in the city and remains at large as investigators ask the public not to approach him directly.
According to LEX 18 News, Chenault is wanted on a federal charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl. The FBI and the Lexington Police Department's Special Investigations Unit investigated a series of drug transactions in early August, and a federal arrest warrant was issued for Chenault on August 14 out of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in Frankfort, authorities said.
The station's report describes Chenault as 5 feet 7 inches tall and about 200 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes, and tattoos running from his hands to his shoulders on both arms. He may go by the aliases “T” or “Lil T,” per the same account. Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI's Louisville Field Office at 502-263-6000, the Lexington Police Department at 859-258-3600, or to submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
A 400-Gram Charge Carries Life-Sentence Stakes
The quantity named in Chenault's federal charge is not a minor detail. Under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A)(vi), a conviction for possessing with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of a fentanyl mixture carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum of life, according to Cornell Law School. The Drug Enforcement Administration has said that as little as 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be a lethal dose, meaning 400 grams of a fentanyl mixture could theoretically represent up to 200,000 potentially fatal doses.
It is a stark illustration of why federal prosecutors treat fentanyl trafficking cases with such urgency, particularly since illicit fentanyl is often pressed into counterfoit pills or blended into other street drugs without any dosage control. Chenault is not the only Lexington figure to face steep federal consequences over fentanyl this month — a Hoodline report on a fentanyl seller who got 20 years detailed how a joint investigation by Lexington police and federal agents traced a counterfeit M30 pill back to a dealer after a fatal overdose.
Gang Detectives Have Tracked Chenault Since 2018
Federal court records show this is not the first time Chenault has drawn scrutiny from Lexington law enforcement. Documents from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky describe a March 2018 search warrant execution at a Lexington residence, attended by Chenault and gang associates, where officers seized heroin, two stolen firearms, counterfeit currency, and seven destroyed iPhones during what police at the time characterized as a suspected gang meeting.
More recently, federal filings show that in September 2019, Lexington detectives attempting to execute outstanding warrants on Chenault stopped a vehicle in which he was a passenger. That stop led to the arrest and eventual nearly seven-year federal prison sentence of the driver, Darryl W. Stewart Jr., on firearm charges, according to records reviewed on GovInfo. Stewart reportedly attempted to distance himself from the vehicle at a convenience store while Chenault remained in the passenger seat.
Fentanyl Remains a Persistent Local Threat
The search for Chenault plays out against a complicated public health backdrop in Fayette County. The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department issued a localized overdose alert in May after the county recorded 33 nonfatal suspected overdose emergency medical encounters and one fatal overdose over a single seven-day span, according to a Fayette County overdose alert report. Fentanyl was detected in 45.4% of all drug overdose deaths statewide in 2025, and Fayette County consistently ranks among the top three Kentucky counties for fentanyl-involved deaths alongside Jefferson and Kenton counties, per the 2025 Drug Overdose Fatality Report cited by The Lexington Times.
Even so, the state's overall trend has been improving. Kentucky recorded 1,110 drug overdose deaths in 2025, a 22.9% annual decrease from 2024 and a 50.8% drop from the state's peak overdose mortality year in 2021, with state officials crediting expanded naloxone distribution and targeted law enforcement grants for the decline. The FBI's Louisville Field Office, which holds jurisdiction over all 120 Kentucky counties, operates satellite resident agencies in Lexington, London, Bowling Green, Covington, Owensboro, and Paducah, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation — the network of local offices now working alongside Lexington police to locate Chenault.
Court records show Chenault was found guilty in 2019. Investigators have not said whether they believe he has left the Lexington area, and it remains unclear whether additional co-conspirators are named in the underlying federal case.
