TAMPA, Fla. – A Tampa man will spend the next two decades in federal prison after a drug deal in Riverview turned fatal. U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington handed down a 20-year sentence to 44-year-old Brandon Lewis Graham for distributing a mixture of cocaine and fentanyl that resulted in a woman’s death.
The sentencing follows a guilty plea entered by Graham on March 31, 2025, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe.
The case traces back to March 30, 2022, when a man and a woman met Graham at a location in Riverview to purchase what they believed was cocaine. Court records show the pair later returned to the woman’s home to use the substance.
The following morning, the man discovered the woman unresponsive in her bed. Deputies from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) arrived on the scene and confirmed she had passed away. During the initial investigation, authorities recovered a clear plastic baggie from the victim’s person that tested positive for both cocaine and fentanyl.
A subsequent autopsy by the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Department ruled the cause of death as acute intoxication from the combined effects of fentanyl, cocaine, and ethanol.
Detectives leveraged surveillance footage, witness interviews, and data from the victim’s cellphone to identify the seller. The investigation revealed the victim knew Graham by the street name “Homie Boog.” When law enforcement arrested Graham on August 3, 2022, he was carrying two bags of fentanyl and three bags of methamphetamine.
During questioning, Graham admitted to selling narcotics to the victim at a Riverview gas station and informed detectives that more drugs were located at his residence. A search of his apartment yielded additional bags containing a fentanyl and cocaine mixture.
The successful prosecution was the result of a joint effort between the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Department, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Assistant United States Attorneys Maria Guzman and Michael Sinacore led the government’s case.
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