LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — A 28-year-old Dacula man pleaded guilty to murder and drug charges after he sold fentanyl-laced drugs that caused a 24-year-old man’s overdose death.
His plea was, in part, because authorities recorded him answering the phone, “Fentanyl Enterprises.”
Gwinnett County’s District Attorney Office said Benjamin Michael Hosler, 28, was on trial for felony murder, two counts of trafficking in illegal drugs (fentanyl), violation of Georgia’s Controlled Substance Act and three counts of illegal use of a communication facility in connection with the September 2021 death of 24-year-old Dylan Smith.
Hosler was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
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Smith’s mother called Gwinnett County police on Sept. 18, when she found him dead in his bedroom, a depressed syringe in his hand.
Police found at the scene 0.3 grams of a light-brown chunky substance in a distinctive wrapping on his nightstand. That substance tested positive for fentanyl.
Investigators found a chain of text messages Smith’s phone between him and the defendant from the day before he was found dead. Smith had asked the defendant for heroin and Xanax, both of which were laced with fentanyl.
Undercover officers bought varying amounts of drugs from Hosler on three different occasions between October 2021 and December 2021.
Each time, the drug was delivered in the same distinctive wrapping as what was found in Smith’s room, and the drugs tested positive for fentanyl each time. Undercover investigators found evidence confirming Hosler’s knowledge of sales and the overdose issues. Police arrested him on Jan. 24, 2022.
Hosler’s trial began this week, and during opening statements, the jury and the defendant heard a recording of him answering the phone as “Fentanyl Enterprises.”
The jury and the defendant also saw police body camera footage from the police response to Smith’s overdose. The defendant then entered a guilty plea.
Ryan Smith and Brian Trepanier with the Gwinnett District Attorney’s Drug & Gang Task Force prosecuted the case with assistance from Victim Advocate Sussy Key and Drug & Gang Task Force Investigation team, the Gwinnett County Police Department and the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner.
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