‘Candy lady’ sentenced for fentanyl trafficking, selling drug-infused treats to kids

TAMPA, Fla. (TCN) – A woman has been sentenced to 60 years behind bars after being convicted of fentanyl trafficking charges in December 2025.

In December 2023, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced that they had arrested 32-year-old Renee Stephens following an investigation that started in August of that year. During the investigation, undercover agents conducted controlled drug purchases with her, and in one instance, she was reportedly holding her infant while handling fentanyl. A search was conducted in her home on Dec. 11, 2023, and authorities seized marijuana, 100 fentanyl pills, 153 grams of fentanyl, and 63 packages of marijuana-infused treats designed to looks like chips and candy.

Stephens was known in her neighborhood as the “candy lady” for selling the packages to children, according to the FDLE. Investigators learned that Stephens worked with her husband, who was incarcerated at the time, to facilitate drug deals. He was also charged with fentanyl trafficking.

WFLA reports that the amount of fentanyl seized at Stephens’ home in 2023 was enough to kill nearly 80,000 people, according to Ashley Moody, Florida’s attorney general at the time.

Stephens was sentenced on March 24, according to WFLA. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said, “This couple was not only profiting from pushing poison into our communities, but they were also doing it in the presence of a young, vulnerable child.”

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