Death Penalty for Dealing Fentanyl Act of 2025

This bill, titled the Death Penalty for Dealing Fentanyl Act of 2025, would add a new federal penalty to the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). It creates a statute (new Sec. 424) that punishes, with the possibility of the death penalty, anyone who is convicted of distributing, possessing with intent to distribute, or manufacturing fentanyl (under existing CSA offenses) when a death results from that fentanyl. The punishment options include the death sentence or life imprisonment (or any term of years) and a federal fine. The bill focuses specifically on “knowing distribution” of fentanyl where a death occurs, aiming to treat fentanyl-related deaths as the result of the offender’s actions as a capital crime. As introduced, the bill would apply within the federal legal framework and would be subject to the procedures and protections that govern federal death-penalty cases. It is not enacted law and would require passage by both chambers and presidential approval to take effect.