Tarrant County man receives lengthy federal prison sentence as part of Homeland Security Task Force investigation into a fentanyl overdose death in the Eastern District of Texas

Date: July 20, 2026

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Plano, TX - A Saginaw man has been sentenced to over 17 years in federal prison as part of a Homeland Security Task Force investigation into a fentanyl overdose death in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.

Kevin Chase McCauley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and was sentenced to 210 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Richard A. Schell on July 20, 2026.

According to information presented in court, on March 8, 2023, Denton County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to the death of an individual at a residence on Stonecrest Road in Argyle, Texas. An investigation revealed the individual died from an overdose of fentanyl-laced counterfeit hydrocodone pills, which were purchased from McCauley.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Dallas comprises agents and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Dallas Field Office; U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations - Dallas (ICE-HSI); Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Dallas Field Division; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Dallas Field Division; Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI); United States Postal Service, United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS); Transportation Security Administration, Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS); United States Secret Service (USSS); Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DSS); TEXOMA HIDTA; and U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Eastern District of Texas with the prosecution being led by Eastern District of Texas Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Johnson.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.