“James Carter-Smith was draining the life out of people $20 at a time,” Chief Prosecutor Donna Hansen told the jury at the trial.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas — A man will spend 50 years behind bars after he sold the fentanyl to a disabled U.S. Army veteran, which led to his overdose death, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
On Monday, July 21, a jury convicted 37-year-old James Carter-Smith, Jr., of murder under Texas’s fentanyl murder statute, which took effect in 2023. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
Carter-Smith was accused of selling fentanyl to disabled U.S. Army veteran Justin Fortin, 34. Fortin, a former paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, had been through two deployments in Iraq. Prosecutors said Fortin suffered from PTSD and chronic pain from his service.
On October 18, 2023, Fortin was found dead from fentanyl toxicity in his bedroom in Magnolia.
“A lengthy investigation led law enforcement into the Houston area, where searches were executed at a clothing store and private residence connected to Carter-Smith,” the DA’s Office said.
The DA’s Office said that during the searches, investigators found evidence linking Carter-Smith to Fortin’s overdose.
“James Carter-Smith was draining the life out of people $20 at a time,” Chief Prosecutor Donna Hansen told the jury at the trial.
Carter-Smith had previously served three sentences, two of those stemming from drug-related offenses.
“Justin Fortin survived two tours in Iraq but couldn’t survive what James Carter-Smith, Jr. sold him,” District Attorney Brett Ligon said. “This case is a tragic example of what we are facing with fentanyl.”
The DA’s Office said Carter-Smith’s arrest was the first under the state’s fentanyl murder statute.