Feds charge two for fentanyl distribution in L-C Valley

The Nez Perce County Prosecutor’s Office dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against a 28-year-old Clarkston man this week after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington indicted him and another man for the distribution of fentanyl.

Prosecutor Justin Coleman filed the involuntary manslaughter charge against Kollin D. Mazur last fall after Mazur allegedly sold the dose of the lethal drug that killed 26-year-old Zachary Taylor, of Lewiston, in September. In a news release Thursday afternoon, Coleman said he decided to drop the case because the federal distribution charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, while the state charge has a 10-year maximum.

“By going this route the U.S. Attorney’s Office was able to charge another individual involved and they can seek a much higher maximum penalty than we would’ve been able to obtain,” Coleman said. “Drug dealers need to understand they can be held accountable for people dying by selling these pills. Hopefully this case continues to bring some awareness to the issue.”

Mazur and the other man, Dustin Allen, are now in federal custody, Coleman said. He didn’t have information Thursday on whether bond had been set in their cases, or information on Allen’s age. He did say that Clarkston is believed to be his last town of residence.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Spokane did not immediately respond to a request for more information on the federal cases Thursday. The investigation into the alleged fentanyl sales has been a joint effort involving the Lewiston Police Department, the FBI, the Quad Cities Drug Task Force, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the prosecutor’s office, according to the news release.

Members of the task force arrested Mazur at his trailer home in the Clarkston Heights in October after an investigation that spanned several weeks. The type of fentanyl tablets he allegedly sold to Taylor are frequently determined to be counterfeit blue oxycodone pills with a letter “M” stamped on one side and “30” on the other that come from clandestine labs in Mexico, and have nicknames like “Mexis,” “Mexi 30s” or “blues,” according to investigators. They can contain wildly varying doses of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 80-100 times more powerful than morphine.

According to court documents, Mazur allegedly sold Taylor the fentanyl tablets Sept. 12. Later that day, Taylor’s mother discovered his body at his Lewiston residence. Investigating officers found a piece of aluminum foil next to Taylor with charred residue on it and portions of a blue pill, along with a straw and lighter, according to police.

Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com