A Lockport man has pleaded guilty to selling fentanyl that resulted in a 2015 death. 

Pablo Lugo III, 27, of Lockport, pleaded guilty in federal court to possession with intent to distribute and distribution of fentanyl. 

According to the assistant U.S. attorney handling the case, Lockport Police officers found a deceased individual in a Caledonia Street home in March 2015. An autopsy determined that the individual had died of an acute fentanyl  overdose. 

Officers recovered four reddish paper wrappers in the bathroom which tested positive for fentanyl. 

Text messages from the deceased’s cell phone indicated that the overdose victim and Lugo communicated on the day that the overdose occurred. Lugo admitted that the death resulted from drugs he had given the victim. 

Lugo faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine when sentenced Dec. 20. 

The plea is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division; the Niagara County Drug Enforcement Task Force, under the direction of Sheriff James Voutour; and the Lockport Police Department, under the direction of Acting Chief Steven Preisch.

Sentencing is scheduled for December 20, 2018, at 3:00 p.m. before Judge Wolford.