LUBBOCK, Texas — A former Texas Tech University professor was sentenced Oct. 23 to 40 years in federal prison for his role in a fentanyl trafficking conspiracy involving a pink-dyed drug mixture he branded as “pink flamingo,” federal prosecutors said.
Daniel Taylor, 51, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix to 480 months in prison after pleading guilty July 1 to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
Taylor was an assistant professor of supply chain management at Texas Tech’s Rawls College of Business.
Investigators said he manufactured and distributed fentanyl in multiple forms, including a white powder called “ghost” and a pink mixture containing fentanyl and bromazolam that was packaged with flamingo stickers.
U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould condemned Taylor’s conduct and the harm it caused.
“Daniel Taylor earned every year of his 40-year sentence,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. “Taylor targeted and preyed on vulnerable women, enlisted some of them to help his drug supply chain, branded his poison as if it were a product sold off a shelf and showed a shocking disregard for human life. Thank you to the agents and our AUSAs who removed him from our communities for the rest of his life so he can’t hurt or manipulate anyone else ever again.”
Federal investigators began looking into Taylor’s activities in 2025.
In January 2026, agents observed Taylor meeting with a distributor at a convenience store. A passenger in the same vehicle later suffered an overdose and required emergency medical treatment.
Searches connected to the investigation uncovered fentanyl, bromazolam, methamphetamine, cocaine base, ketamine and MDMA, along with heat-sealing and packaging equipment, pink envelopes, flamingo stickers and a handwritten recipe.
Court documents described Taylor supplying fentanyl to multiple women in exchange for sex and recruiting some of them to help distribute drugs.
Several women overdosed, including one at Taylor’s home who required multiple doses of naloxone, sold under the brand name Narcan.
Investigators also found messages in which Taylor instructed others to move conversations to encrypted messaging applications and delete messages. He referred to women as “flamingos,” according to court records.
“Daniel Taylor exploited his position of trust and education to engage in the distribution of one of the deadliest drugs threatening our communities,” said Joseph B. Tucker, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Division.
Taylor had a prior federal felony conviction and was court-martialed after using fraudulent documents and attempting to fake his own death, according to prosecutors.
The investigation involved the Texas Anti-Gang Center and the Caprock High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, with assistance from the DEA, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office and the Lubbock Police Department.
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