Gregory Stephen Norris
Special to the NEWS
BROWNSVILLE, TX—A 39-year-old man recently pleaded guilty to murder in a Cameron County Courtroom for delivering a dose of fentanyl to a man in San Benito who died from the controlled substance.
Gregory Stephen Norris accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to 15 years, according to court records, after he delivered fentanyl to Arnoldo Garcia on March 26, 2024.
Following Garcia’s death, Norris was arrested by the San Benito Police Department (SBPD).
He has remained jailed in the Cameron County Carrizales-Rucker Detention Center in Olmito since his arrest on July 31, 2024, according to jail records.
Norris was the third person to plead guilty or be found guilty by a jury for delivering the fentanyl that caused Garcia’s death.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Illicit fentanyl is sold on its own or mixed with other drugs such as heroin, methamphetamine, counterfeit pills, cocaine, and others to make them cheaper and more potent.
According to the DEA, in 2023, nearly 73,000 drug overdose deaths involved synthetic opioids, which are primarily illegally manufactured fentanyl. Fentanyl accounted for 80% of opioid-related overdoses in 2023.
After a period of increase between 2013 and 2022, overdose death rates involving synthetic opioids decreased by approximately 1–2% from 2022 to 2023.
The 2023 overdose death rate for synthetic opioids was still approximately 22 times higher than in 2013.
In 2021, fentanyl-related emergency room visits were highest among individuals aged 26–44 and totaled 122,884.
In 2021, an estimated 539,000 Americans aged 12 or older misused prescription fentanyl.
Approximately 21% of people who used prescription fentanyl in 2021 misused it. Misuse of prescribed opioids is a major risk factor for developing an opioid use disorder (OUD).
Individuals who become tolerant or dependent on prescription opioids may transition to illicitly manufactured opioids like heroin or fentanyl.
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