TEXARKANA, Texas–A man who was once selling as many as 500 counterfeit pain pills per day was sentenced Wednesday to more than 12 years in prison by a federal judge in Texarkana.
Kolton Todd Saulsbury, 35, was given a 151-month federal prison term at a hearing in Texarkana’s downtown federal building before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III. Saulsbury is among five people charged in the Eastern District of Texas with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.
Saulsbury admitted in plea documents that from September 2021 to November 2022 he was selling blue pills stamped with M-30 that appeared to be prescription hydrocodone but which were really street-made counterfeits that contained fentanyl.
Following his release from prison, Saulsbury will be supervised by federal officials for five years and could be ordered to serve additional time if he violates the conditions of his supervised release. Federal inmates may earn up to 54 days credit per year toward their sentences for good behavior. There is no parole from federal prison.
Saulsbury was represented Wednesday by Texarkana lawyer Josh Potter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Richards appeared for the government Wednesday.
One of Saulsbury’s co-defendants, Nikki Jo Mattison, 34, was recently sentenced to 17 years in prison. Mattison sold fake hydrocodone pills to a person who died hours after the drug deal in June 2022.
Another co-defendant, Darrell Montrell “Monty” Trotter, 35, was sentenced to a 14-year term and Courtney Lewis, 38, is currently serving a 10-year term in the case, according to court records. Christopher Kyle Candelaria, aka “Candyman,” 34, is scheduled for sentencing later this month. All of the defendants pleaded guilty.
