(Tyler, TX) A Longview woman has been sentenced to federal prison for distributing fentanyl resulting in death.

According to the U.S Attorney's Office, 43 year old Rebecca Diane Merkel operated what was known to drug users as the "Walmart of drugs" out of her residence located 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. The next day, law enforcement 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.

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

Merkel pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and was sentenced to 240 months or 20 years in federal prison.

.In addition to Merkel, six other co-defendants, all from were also sentenced for their respective criminal conduct related to the conspiracy:

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