Fort Campbell, Ky., Spc. Ryan J. Faubel pleaded guilty Monday, April 28, 2025, to negligent homicide in the death of Spc. Ivan Rios Segui, according to the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel. Faubel admitted he sold Rios Segui fentanyl-laced Percocet, a prescription drug used to treat pain. The pills were determined to be the soldier’s cause of death. (Samuel Shore/U.S. Army)
A Fort Campbell, Ky., soldier will spend a year in prison after pleading guilty to selling another soldier fentanyl-laced pills that led to his death of a drug overdose.
Spc. Ryan J. Faubel, 24, pleaded guilty Monday to negligent homicide in the death of Spc. Ivan Rios Segui, according to the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel, which prosecuted the case. He admitted he sold Rios Segui fentanyl-laced Percocet, a prescription drug used to treat pain. The pills were determined to be the soldier’s cause of death on July 1, 2022.
Military Judge Lt. Col. Carrie Ward sentenced him to one year in prison, total forfeiture of pay and allowances and a bad conduct discharge.
“Spc. Faubel’s plea takes responsibility for the tragic death that resulted from his actions and delivers justice in this case amid the nation’s ongoing fentanyl crisis,” said Capt. Kirby Ammons, prosecutor for the 101st Airborne Division. “This resolution marks an important first step in the healing process for Pfc. Rios-Segui’s family and Spc. Faubel, while sending a clear message that those who distribute dangerous substances within our ranks will be held accountable.”
Dan Higgins, Faubel’s attorney, said this case was about two soldiers who were failed by the substance abuse and behavioral health systems of the Army.
“Two soldiers affected by mental health and substance abuse problems, two soldiers who sought the Army’s help to address these problems and were not properly cared for, and as a result, one of these soldiers tragically passed away. Singling out Spc. Faubel as the sole scapegoat here fails to capture the complexity of this case,” Higgins said.
The Army could honor Rios Segui’s life by taking substance abuse more seriously, he said.
“This tragedy was absolutely preventable,” Higgins said.
As part of a plea agreement, the Army dropped charges against Faubel for possessing and distributing fentanyl on July 1, 2022, possessing and distributing cocaine on May 25, 2022, and involuntary manslaughter.
Faubel of Youngstown, Ohio, is in confinement at Fort Campbell until he is transferred to a military prison to serve his sentence, according to the special trial counsel.
Both soldiers served in the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division, but in different battalions.
Rios Segui, 25, was an infantryman who grew up in New Haven, Conn., and Puerto Rico, according to his obituary.
Fifteen soldiers died of a drug overdose at Fort Campbell between 2017 and 2021, according to the data. It was the second highest number of deaths at an Army installation.
During the five-year window of the data, 15,293 service members overdosed on drugs and alcohol, and 332 died. More than half of those who died had taken fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is more potent than morphine, the report found.
Fentanyl, an approved pain medication being illegally produced and sold, is killing about 70,000 Americans each year, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Increasingly, fentanyl is mixed with other illicit drugs or used to replace another drug entirely so that users are expecting something else.
Fatal drug overdoses among service members dropped 40% from 2021 to 2023, according to data released last month by the Pentagon.
“This case again highlights the devastating consequences and significant risks of drug use by service members and members of the public, especially in a time when fentanyl has become an increasingly rampant and widespread danger,” said Capt. Tyler Loontjer, an attorney with the Fourth Circuit of the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel. “Situations such as the tragic death of Pfc. Rios Segui remind us that we all bear a duty of care and responsibility for the safety and well-being of ourselves and our fellow service members.”
