Man sentenced for fentanyl possession

FREMONT — A Risingsun, Ohio, man was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to possessing fentanyl. Charles L. Teeple II, 41, was convicted on one count of possession of a fentanyl-related compound, a second-degree felony, after pleading guilty to the charge at a court hearing on Feb. 25. Teeple pleaded guilty to the one count of possession in exchange for the dismissal of one count of trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound, a first-degree felony, according to court records. Sandusky County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeremiah Ray sentenced Teeple to serve 6 to 9 years in prison. He additionally received credit for 92 days served. Under the terms of his sentencing, Teeple is ordered to pay a mandatory fine of $7,500 and will placed on a mandatory term of three years post-release control, according to court records. Teeple's conviction stems from an incident where deputies from the Sandusky County Sheriff's Office responded to a Fremont-area car wash for a person in a truck passed out behind the wheel, where deputies recovered a large amount of fentanyl, according to a press release from Sandusky County Court of Common Pleas. According to an article from the Ohio Department of Health, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that was created for pharmaceutical use and approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat severe pain. Fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine, the state's health department said. In 2021, fentanyl was involved in 80% of Ohio's unintentional drug overdose deaths.