Detectives say a Sebastian man has been accused of selling the dangerous drug Fentanyl disguised as Oxycodone tablets to an undercover informant. Joel Flowers, aged 33, of Sebastian, was the center of the investigation.
On June 20, 2023, an investigation found that Flowers sent a mobile text to an informant, offering to sell 250 Fentanyl pills for $2,500. He arranged to meet at a McDonald’s near Interstate 95 because he had his child. They finished the deal in the McDonald’s parking lot.
Detectives watched and recorded the entire meeting. The footage shows Flowers taking out the fake pills filled with Fentanyl and giving them to the informant while receiving the money.
On July 13, 2023, the informant told Flowers he wanted more pills. They decided to meet up at the same McDonald’s. The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Investigations Unit taped the meeting again. The National Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) also assisted with surveillance.
Detectives said they saw Flowers at a nearby Dairy Queen, where he picked up the laced Fentanyl pills from a known drug dealer named Marlon Clarke. Detectives said they’d had over 25 encounters with Clarke in the past nine years.
On July 25, 2023, Flowers and Clarke were arrested and taken to the Indian River County Jail.
Flowers is being held in jail with bail set at $625,000. He is charged with:
- Selling, delivering, or planning to sell or deliver Fentanyl (2 counts)
- Unlawful use of a device that communicates two ways (2 counts)
- Traffic controlled substance (2 counts)
- Driving while his driver’s license is suspended (1 count)
Clarke is being held in jail without bail. His charges include:
- Selling, delivering, or planning to sell or deliver Fentanyl (2 counts)
- Unlawful use of a device that communicates two ways (2 counts)
- Traffic controlled substance (2 counts)
- Driving while his driver’s license is suspended (1 count)
