Two women indicted as part of a drug trafficking conspiracy involving distribution of fentanyl, a powerful opioid, were sentenced in federal court Thursday by U.S. District Judge Kristine G. Baker.
Tezzera Marie Capps and Jessica Angel Vail were among 23 people indicted Oct. 2, 2019, as part of a drug trafficking ring run by Clifton Louis Williams of Little Rock. On Thursday, Baker sentenced Capps to time served and three years supervised release and Vail to 30 months in prison and three years supervised release. Both women could have received as much as 20 years in prison each on the charges.
Fentanyl is a powerful but cheap synthetic painkiller that is some 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and has been blamed for thousands of drug overdose deaths.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, as little as 2 milligrams of fentanyl can prove lethal in humans.
Capps, 26, of Flippin, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl in April. Vail, 25, of Conway, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl last December.
Capps was a high school athlete who, according to her attorney, Eric Buchanan of Little Rock, became addicted to opioids after injuries caused multiple painful surgeries. Buchanan said Capps' lack of criminal history and the circumstances of her involvement in the offense justified a sentence below the recommended guideline sentence of 30 to 37 months.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bart Dickinson, who was standing in for Assistant U.S. Attorney Benecia Moore, asked Baker to consider a sentence similar to that which the judge had handed down to Capps' co-defendant and husband, Cody Alexander Capps, who was sentenced to one year and one day, the lowest sentence given to that point.
"I think that's an appropriate sentence," Dickinson said. "It's a significant downward variance."
"What sets Ms. Capps apart in regard to this case with co-defendants is an ability for an off-ramp, right?" Baker said. "A federal indictment is the full weight of law enforcement coming down. Lots of these defendants ... had prior run-ins with state issues where they were given probationary sentences ... they were given opportunities for drug treatment and opportunities for things in law enforcement and in the criminal justice system prior to this."
Baker said because Capps' first legal trouble was in federal court where sentences are typically more severe and parole not a possibility, her legal options in that regard were limited.
"The ability for an off-ramp, in my view, especially for offenders is important," she said, then turned to Capps. "I weigh that with this case. It's fentanyl. You're lucky to be alive ... This case involves a death. I have a defendant in this case who pled guilty to causing a death from fentanyl. That takes the potential penalty through the roof."
Williams pleaded guilty in February to distribution of fentanyl resulting in death and is facing a possible sentence of life in prison when he comes up for sentencing in November.
Baker, recognizing Capps' satisfactory conduct on pretrial release and her completion of two inpatient rehabilitation programs and continued outpatient treatment, agreed to leniency.
"You've put in the hard work," she said. "You had a wake-up call and you put in the work."
Vail, who has been in federal custody since August 2021, when her release was revoked following numerous violations including a drug overdose, was escorted into the courtroom by federal marshals for sentencing.
According to court records, Vail was picked up on a wiretap of Williams' cell phone in over 250 calls and texts in a three-week period, ordering fentanyl in gram and half-gram quantities on several occasions for herself or for distribution to others.
Vail's attorney, James Winfield Wyatt of Little Rock, asked Baker for leniency for his client, noting that she had already spent 15 months in federal detention and a previous six-and-a-half months in state custody on a 72-month sentence for drug possession.
"Ms. Vail understands she's going to go to prison for a while," Wyatt said. "We're not going to stand here and pretend we're in a position where that's not going to happen but the court has wide discretion in how much that's going to be."
Wyatt said Vail's criminal history wasn't extensive, amounting to a misdemeanor possession offense at 20, a DWI at 21, and a felony drug conviction later at 21 in which she was placed on probation that was later revoked and she was sent to the Arkansas Department of Correction.
"That charge resulted from an overdose in April of 2018," Wyatt said. "I think the report said it was heroin but I think the reality is it was fentanyl ... That's April 5 of 2018 when the overdose happens and that is smack in the time frame when this indictment is going on, she just hasn't been federally indicted."
Wyatt asked Baker to give consideration for the time Vail spent in ADC.
"She's been punished a little for the same exact conduct that got her indicted," he said.
Wyatt said a second overdose happened on Feb. 1, 2021, which he acknowledged was part of the conduct that led to Vail's revocation.
"She's probably lucky to be alive today," he said. "To overdose once and have that is bad enough but to have two and you survive both, it's kind of amazing."
Wyatt said the 15 months in custody had allowed Vail to get off of drugs and had been good for her. He said while in the Pulaski County jail she had participated in an intensive 240-hour reentry program and had begun mentoring other inmates.
"I applaud her for doing that because when she does get out she'll be ahead of that game," he said.
Dickinson agreed that a low-end guideline sentence of 30 months would be appropriate.
"Fentanyl is bad news. OD-ing twice and being brought back twice means you have a purpose in life and this isn't it," Baker said in handing down the sentence. "You have people in the back of the courtroom who clearly love and support you. I'm going to challenge you to love and support yourself as much as they do."