Rebecca Merkel

From staff reports

An East Texas woman has been sentenced to federal prison for distributing fentanyl resulting in death, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Rebecca Diane Merkel, 43, of Longview, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle.

According to information presented in court, Merkel operated what was known to drug users as the “Walmart of drugs” out of her residence on Williams Street in Longview. There, she and her co-defendants sold various illegal narcotics, including methamphetamine and pills laced with fentanyl, in exchange for money, stolen goods and firearms. Merkel’s customers included street-level dealers in Gregg, Rusk, and Panola counties.

On March 29, 2023, Merkel sold what were purported to be prescription pills to a victim, who died after ingesting them, according to court documents. On March 30, 2023, law enforcement officers located the victim’s body inside a vehicle in a remote area in Rusk County, where other co-defendants staged the body to avoid detection by authorities. An autopsy determined that the victim died of a fentanyl overdose.

On May 10, 2023, Merkel was arrested following a traffic stop during which officers recovered a firearm, methamphetamine, heroin, crack cocaine and pills that were later determined to contain fentanyl, a synthetic opioid commonly used as an analgesic or anesthetic that is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.

Merkel admitted to selling controlled substances from her residence, including in the time frame during which the victim purchased the fatal dose, according to court documents.

In addition to Merkel, six other co-defendants were also sentenced related to the case:

Timothy Wayne Yow, 58, of Longview, received a 188-month sentence;

Jonathan Schurr, 26, of Longview, received a 46-month sentence;

Stephanie Nichoal Kravis, 38, of Kilgore, received a 140-month sentence;

Wesley Ryan Parker, 33, of Carthage, received a 120-month sentence;

Daulton Wayne Anthony, 31, of Carthage, received a 71-month sentence; and

Kylie Breaane Durand, 28, of Carthage, received a 37-month sentence.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, DEA, Gregg County Sheriff’s Office, Panola County Sheriff’s Office, Rusk County Sheriff’s Office, Longview Police Department and Kilgore Police Department.