2025-10-27
Man admits to selling fentanyl behind popular Amarillo steakhouse, lying about his age to teen girl
AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - A man who pleaded guilty to dealing fentanyl behind a popular steakhouse has pleaded guilty to a separate federal charge against him.
Brannick Ryan Dixon, 40, was arrested in June after a federal grand jury indicted him for distribution of fentanyl.
Court documents show that in October 2024, officers with Amarillo Police Department received a tip that Dixon was selling fentanyl behind the Outback Steakhouse at South Coulter and I-40.
The officers learned that Dixon lived in the Westminister Apartments close to Outback Steakhouse and began to conduct surveillance.
They saw a black BMW that belonged to a known customer of Dixon pull around to the back of the steakhouse and park.
Soon afterwards, the officers saw Dixon leave his apartment and jaywalk across the street, causing an oncoming car to brake suddenly in order to avoid hitting him.
As a result, officers arrested Dixon for pedestrian in the roadway. They searched him and found a baggie with 10 blue fentanyl pills.
A search warrant for Dixon’s apartment turned up a pink Witness 9mm handgun that was reported stolen, nearly $14,000 cash, and five baggies with fentanyl pills.
Dixon, 40, has pleaded guilty in two separate federal indictments against him(Randall County Sheriff's Office)
In an interview, Dixon waived his rights and admitted the items found in his apartment were his, “it was my fault, it’s my stuff.”
He also admitted that he had bought the pink handgun “off the streets” for protection because he did not have a job and “got the money from hustling.”
Dixon pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl in September. Shortly before that, he was indicted on a separate federal charge of enticement of a minor.
When he was arrested for drug trafficking in December 2023, investigators went through his phone and discovered sexually explicit messages between Dixon and a teenage girl.
Court documents detail how Dixon met the girl, when he approached her in a grocery store parking lot. He asked her age, to which she told him she was 15-years-old.
Learning this, Dixon then lied and told her he was 19-years-old and then asked for her phone number.
They communicated regularly from April until the day Dixon was arrested in December 2023.
When the girl was located and interviewed, she was upset at learning he had lied to her about his age.
Court documents for Dixon contain examples of the messages investigators were able to recover from the teenager’s phone. They heavily involve references to prior sex acts done with her and requests for her to send him sexually explicit photos and video of herself.
Dixon bought a new phone in August 2023. Investigators went through the phone and discovered that Dixon messaged the teen girl about 3,851 times between August and December 2023.
The frequency of the messages along with the sexual subject matter are interpreted by federal law as persuading, enticing, and coercing a minor to have sex with him.
In particular, Dixon displayed tactics of emotional manipulation when he pressured the girl to send him more videos of herself, then suddenly accused her of cheating on him.
August 11,2023: “You better start answering your phone when I call and start texting me more lol” “You better” “You bet not be cheating on me.”
Dixon admitted to the above incidents and pleaded guilty on Friday.
At the time of this writing, his sentencing is not yet scheduled.
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