Paul Dillon Brown, 19, pled guilty to possession of 95 grams of the controlled substance with intent to deliver and elected to have Judge Craig Towson assess his punishment.
“We are grateful to our partners in the Parker County justice system for helping finish what we started when we got this person and those substances off the streets,” said Willow Park Chief of Police Ray Lacy. “My thanks to our alert officers who apprehended this individual. This is a testament to a great team effort between the arresting officers, the prosecuting attorneys, and the judge in the case. The seizure of those drugs undoubtedly saved lives in our community.”
According to trial testimony, a vehicle in which Brown was a passenger was pulled over by a Willow Park Police Department officer on Feb. 29, 2024, when it was seen driving 108 mph on Interstate 20. When the. car was stopped, the officer smelled the odor of burnt marijuana coming from the vehicle. The officer eventually found baggies of fentanyl pills in Brown’s pants pocket and in the trunk. Also found in the trunk were two handguns, one of which turned out to be stolen. Brown struggled with WPPD officers but was eventually arrested.
Brown posted bail at the jail a few days later and was released. According to testimony from several Arlington Police Department detectives, within just more than a month of being released, he had sold fentanyl to undercover officers three times and been arrested with drugs, several guns, and thousands of dollars of cash.
“Fentanyl is a scourge on our country,” District Attorney Jeff Swain said. “Our community is not exempt from its impact as we have had far too many fatal overdoses right her in Parker County. We have been taking a hard line on fentanyl cases and, as this sentence attests, Judge Towson is right there with us.”
According to testimony from the Arlington detectives, Brown is a member of GBG, the Get Bacc Gang. During the trial, Assistant District Attorneys Ryan Whyte and Mallory Vincent played a music video showing Brown and several other GBG members flashing large amounts of cash and various firearms.
In sentencing Brown, Judge Towson told him that he felt that the “only way I can protect the public is to sentence you to life in prison.” He concluded by saying, “I hope the thrill, the high, the ladies, the guns, the fighting with the cops, the lifestyle was worth it. All it cost you was everything.”
For the three fentanyl delivery cases in Tarrant County, Brown was convicted of a single case and sentenced to five years in prison. The Parker County case will run concurrently with that sentence.
“Both the Willow Park and the Arlington detectives did a lot of really good work on this case,” Whyte said. “The Arlington investigation in particular was quite extensive, took over a month, and included work from quite a few detectives.”
“Not surprisingly, as a drug dealer, this defendant was using social media to reach his customers,” Vincent said. “I think it’s important for parents to know this because many fentanyl users start when they are underage. Parents really need to keep an eye on what their kids are doing online.”
Earlier this year, the Texas legislature passed a bill creating a sentencing enhancement for drug dealers who use social media to assist them in committing their crimes.
Brown will have to serve a minimum of 30 years of his sentence before he could be considered for release on parole, Swain said.
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