Brian Arthur Goodale, 56, of Lake Elsinore, California, was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for distributing fentanyl that led to a fatal overdose, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced on March 26.
The case stems from a welfare check conducted on March 16, 2023, when law enforcement discovered a deceased victim with drug paraphernalia nearby. A toxicology report confirmed the victim died from a lethal dose of fentanyl. Investigators recovered Facebook messages between Goodale and the victim, in which Goodale had arranged the fentanyl transaction. One message stated, “shoot the $100 and I’ll send it now . . . 3pk . . . but I’m gonna need the $200 on Wed. if you’re still alive!!”
Goodale had mailed the fentanyl from Chula Vista, California, to Boise, Idaho. At the time of the crime, he was on felony probation in Riverside County, California, for a prior fentanyl sale conviction. The DEA reported that Goodale had 29 prior convictions in California, including 20 related to controlled substances.
U.S. District Judge Amanda K. Brailsford also ordered Goodale to pay restitution for the victim’s funeral expenses and serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.
The DEA described fentanyl as the deadliest drug threat facing the United States, with over 106,000 Americans dying from drug poisonings or overdoses in 2023, most of which involved fentanyl distributed by Mexican drug trafficking organizations.
