Steven Lawrence Forcum, 32, of Lubbock took a plea deal Thursday in federal court. He was arrested in November shortly after a federal indictment was issued against him for conspiracy to distribute Fentanyl.
If the plea is accepted, then Forcum will be sentenced at a later date to no more than 20 years in prison.
Court records described Fentanyl as deadly – even in small doses.
Forcum admitted he was emailing companies in China to purchase Fentanyl, and he “had been selling Fentanyl and its analogues for years.”
He estimated he was selling a kilo every two months.
Forcum admitted Peyton Wilson was one of his co-defendants. Wilson was shot by Lubbock Police during an armed confrontation when officers showed up at his home with a search warrant.
Wilson recovered and has been held in the Lubbock County Detention Center since that time. Wilson also took a plea and will be sentenced at a later date in federal court.
Court records said, “[Forcum] also emailed a popular television show that anonymously profiles drug dealers around the United States.”
The name of the show was not listed in court records, but the substance of the email was copied.
In the email he talks about selling Fentanyl as “a higher profit margin than anything I have ever heard of, next to winning the lottery.”
In his pitch to the producers of the TV show, Forcum wrote, “I believe you might be interested in my current and previous occupation that would surprise, and even make the drug dealers, car hackers, etc. very interested, yet, jealous.”
In order to avoid getting caught, Forcum would have the Fentanyl shipped from China to an address on the east coast of the United States. From there he would arrange for it to be shipped to Lubbock.
“My concern is the shipping method,” Forcum said in an email to one of his suppliers. “My postal code starts with a 7. So, USA customs red flags that area for any shipments coming from china [sic].”
In addition to the federal drug charge, Forcum is also accused by state prosecutors of a parole violation.
The full text of his email to the TV show is copied below:
To Whom it may concern,
I love yall’s show. It’s my favorite, because I can identify with a lot of the aspects of the Black Market.
I am very familiarised, and well compensated from the ‘grey’ market industry. Being a convict, and hard to find decent job, I have turned to the pharmaceutical intermediates, regarding ‘research chemicals’. That has such a higher profit margin than anything I have ever heard of, next to winning the lottery. I believe you might be interested in my current and previous occupation that would surprise, and even make the drug dealers, car hackers, etc. very interested, yet, jealous. So, I would want to remain anonymous, not release information regarding my location or identity.
If you are interested in doing a segment on this matter, I would like to share this part of my life with you and the public. I don’t know the extent of your knowledge in reference to A.P.I.’s, and the industry. But it’s a booming, yet neglected sector of serious revenue. Probably more profit than any other ‘underground industry I have seen on your black market show; combined.
Related Story: Man Shot in 2016 by Lubbock Police Now Looking at Federal Prison Time
