Kansas City man pleads guilty to role in three fentanyl overdose deaths

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A Kansas City man pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to his role in three fentanyl overdose deaths as part of a drug trafficking conspiracy.

The U.S. Department of Justice said Tiger Dean Draggoo, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and three counts of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death. The charges stemmed from three overdose deaths in Belton and Raymore, Missouri, and followed Draggoo’s January 2023 arrest.

By pleading guilty, Draggoo admitted to distributing fentanyl on September 3, 2022, resulting in the September 4 death of a minor in Cass County, Missouri. Sheriff’s deputies found the girl, identified in court documents as “Victim #1,” dead in her bedroom. Investigators determined Draggoo sold the girl fentanyl pills and provided them to her the night before her death.

Draggoo also admitted to distributing fentanyl between August 22 and September 13, 2022, resulting in the death of a woman in Belton. This woman, known in court documents as “Victim #2,” was found dead in the Belton home where she lived with her mother on September 13, 2022. An autopsy report indicated “acute toxicity fentanyl” as the cause of death. .

An investigation revealed that Draggoo sold pills to the woman and usually left them around midnight at her bedroom window. Cell phone GPS information showed Draggoo in the area of ​​Victim #2’s residence around 12:20 a.m. on September 13, 2022.

Court documents say law enforcement attempted to arrest Draggoo on September 22, 2022, but he managed to escape with his brother, 21-year-old Colt Justin Draggoo. Officers found a loaded handgun in Colt’s vehicle, which was used to help Tiger escape the cops, along with $184,500 in cash.

The Justice Department said Colt pleaded guilty for his role in the drug trafficking conspiracy and that a search of Tiger’s apartment led them to find 17 guns and more than $240,000 in cash , as well as various drugs.

In December 2022, Raymore police officers were dispatched to a home in the city for a woman who was no longer breathing, identified in court documents as victim #3. She was transported to a local hospital on December 20, 2022 and was pronounced dead. A small jewelry box in the woman’s bedroom contained three broken segments of a blue pill that were tested and determined to contain fentanyl.

Investigators determined that Tiger Dean Draggoo had been selling fentanyl to the woman since May 31, 2022.

Tiger was finally arrested on January 20, 2023. Officers found him in possession of nearly $2,000 in cash. They also found pills, psilocybin mushrooms, THC wax and more than $62,000 in additional cash in his apartment. A search of his vehicle resulted in officers finding five firearms and a search of his girlfriend’s car uncovered a backpack containing more than $82,000 in cash.

Tiger Draggoo faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and could face up to life in prison.

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