A New York man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Portland for distributing fentanyl through the U.S. Postal Service. 

U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. sentenced Tyler Dean, 49, to 24 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

According to court records, in June 2020, Dean shipped an envelope via USPS Priority Mail Express from the Schenectady, New York, area to a residence in Rockland, Maine using an alias.

Text and Facebook messages confirmed Dean mailed the envelope and knew that he was sending a controlled substance but did not know the identity of the substance he shipped, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Maine. Lab testing confirmed that the envelope contained fentanyl. The package’s recipient and spouse died of accidental overdoses the day the package arrived. 

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Rockland Police Department, and Maine Attorney General’s Office investigated the case.

Fentanyl listed as a cause of death in 78% of Maine overdose deaths in 2023: According to the December 2023 Maine Monthly Overdose Report, from January 2023 thru December 2023, 78% of confirmed overdose deaths in Maine included fentanyl or fentanyl analogs, alone or in combination with other drugs. To find help dealing with substance use disorder for yourself or a loved one in Maine, including finding naloxone (Narcan) to have on hand and accessible in the case of an opioid overdose emergency, visit https://knowyouroptions.me.