Dallas Man Sentenced for Fentanyl Trafficking

Jorge Miguel Arteaga Medina, a 23-year-old from Dallas, was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl, with drugs hidden inside his child's stuffed bear. He pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute after a confidential informant purchased 171 grams of fentanyl from him in February 2023. Following a recorded conversation in April where he claimed to have approximately 3,000 pills, federal agents investigated and discovered the drugs at his apartment, where he lived with his wife and child. Evidence presented during sentencing included photographs of the stuffed bear containing the pills and posters of Santa Muerte, a figure associated with drug trafficking. Arteaga Medina had sourced the fentanyl from a supplier in Mexico known as '22'. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney George Leal, with the Drug Enforcement Administration leading the investigation.