A Cincinnati man and a Villa Hills man are headed to federal prison for their roles in a fentanyl distribution chain that investigators say ended with a fatal overdose in Kenton County. Ryan Cooley received a 12.5-year sentence, and Nicholas Sturgill was sentenced to 10 years, both for distribution of fentanyl resulting in death.
Chief U.S. District Judge David Bunning handed down the sentences on Thursday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The office says Cooley, of Cincinnati, and Sturgill, of Villa Hills, were both convicted of distributing fentanyl resulting in death, with Cooley's term set at 12.5 years and Sturgill's at 10 years.
According to authorities cited by WKRC, Cooley sold pills to Sturgill, who then brought them to his home and shared them with the victim. Toxicology and autopsy findings showed the victim died from an overdose involving fentanyl and xylazine the day after receiving the pills.
Pills Laced With Fentanyl, Xylazine, Ketamine and Carfentanil
Investigators recovered additional pills and drug paraphernalia from Sturgill's home, and officials say those items tested positive for fentanyl and xylazine. The station's report notes that pills recovered during the broader investigation contained fentanyl analogues, xylazine, ketamine and carfentanil — a combination that points to just how unpredictable the local pill supply had become.
Sturgill reportedly admitted he had purchased similar pressed pills from Cooley for about a year before the fatal overdose. Per the same account, he made controlled purchases from Cooley in June and July 2025 and provided text messages corroborating the transactions, helping investigators build the case against his supplier.
A Third Man Tied to the Pipeline Got 22 Years
The pills that reached the victim trace back further up the chain. Federal investigators say Nathaniel Ferguson sold about 50 pressed pills containing fentanyl and xylazine to Cooley on May 21, 2025 — the day before the victim died. Ferguson was sentenced separately to 22 years in prison on September 16, according to the same report.
Jason Parman, speaking for the U.S. Attorney's Office, called the case “another tragic example of the devastation caused by illicit fentanyl.” He said authorities will continue working with law enforcement partners to identify distributors of dangerous drugs and hold them accountable when their actions result in loss of life.
Fentanyl, Xylazine and the Changing Risk of Street Pills
The drugs found in this case reflect a broader shift federal health agencies have been tracking in the illegal drug supply. Xylazine, a non-opioid sedative not approved for use in people, has increasingly turned up mixed with fentanyl and is linked to overdose deaths nationwide, according to the CDC. Carfentanil, meanwhile, has been pressed into pills designed to look like prescription painkillers in an apparent effort to boost potency and profits, the DEA says, a trend that raises the odds of a fatal poisoning for anyone who takes an unregulated pill.
Nationally, overdose deaths have been trending downward even as these dangerous combinations persist. Provisional data from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics estimated 69,973 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 2025, a decrease of almost 14% from the 81,313 deaths estimated in 2024, per the agency's own figures.
The Cooley and Sturgill case was investigated by the DEA, the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force and the Villa Hills Police Department. It is the kind of multi-agency pipeline case prosecutors have brought elsewhere in the state as well — in September, a Lexington man, Darryl Anderson Jr., was sentenced to 245 months in prison for distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
